**EXHIBIT 31.1****SARBANES-OXLEY SECTION 302 CERTIFICATION**I, William H. Wilcox, certify that: 1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of United SurgicalPartners International, Inc.;  2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statementof a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make thestatements made, in light of the circumstances under which suchstatements were made, not misleading with respect to the period coveredby this report;  3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financialinformation included in this report, fairly present in all materialrespects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows ofthe Registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;  4. The Registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible forestablishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (asdefined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internalcontrol over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the Registrant and have: a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or causedsuch disclosure controls and procedures to be designed underour supervision, to ensure that material informationrelating to the Registrant, including its consolidatedsubsidiaries, is made known to us by others within thoseentities, particularly during the period in which thisreport is being prepared;  b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, orcaused such internal control over financial reporting to bedesigned under our supervision, to provide reasonableassurance regarding the reliability of financial reportingand the preparation of financial statements for externalpurposes in accordance with generally accepted accountingprinciples;  c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the Registrant’s disclosurecontrols and procedures and presented in this report ourconclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosurecontrols and procedures, as of the end of the period coveredby this report based on such evaluation; and  d) Disclosed in this report any change in the Registrant’sinternal control over financial reporting that occurredduring the Registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (theRegistrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annualreport) that has materially affected, or is reasonablylikely to materially affect, the Registrant’s internalcontrol over financial reporting; and 5. The Registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based onour most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,to the Registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the Registrant’sboard of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in thedesign or operation of internal control over financialreporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affectthe Registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize andreport financial information; and  b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves managementor other employees who have a significant role in theRegistrant’s internal control over financial reporting.        /s/ William H. Wilcox   William H. Wilcox   President and Chief Executive Officer    November 1, 2006