Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1117375
16 ASC MANAGEMENT Belleville Surgical Center selling 2 centers after hospital opens — 4 insights By Eric Oliver B elleville (Ill.) Surgical Center sought state permission to sell its two surgery centers in response to declining patient volumes, the St. Louis Business Journal reports. What you should know: 1. Belleville Surgical Center closed Physicians' Surgical Center and Bel- leville Surgical Center mid-year 2018, after HSHS St. Elizabeth's Hospital opened a new facility in O'Fallon, Ill. Several independent physicians in the area became affiliated with the hospital's medical group, which decreased the surgical centers' caseload. 2. BSC plans to sell PSC's operations and BSC's land and building to Sha- keel Ahmed, MD for $50,000. The transaction closed April 1. 3. Belleville Surgical Center Director of Operations Kevin Hamers told the Business Journal Dr. Ahmed would be, "an ideal operator" for the clinic. He said, "We are glad that he will soon be providing his services to the residents of Belleville." 4. Belleville Surgical Center is a Deerfield, Ill.-based Surgical Care Affili- ates center. n Humana adds 100+ SurgCenter Development facilities to national network — 3 things to know By Angie Stewart H umana and Towson, Md.-based SurgCenter Development entered an agreement adding more than 100 SurgCenter Development locations to Humana's national provider network, Feb. 1. Three things to know: 1. The agreement expaned Humana members' access to total knee, hip and shoulder replacements in an ASC setting. 2. SurgCenter Development has an operational portfolio of 114 multispe- cialty, orthopedic-driven ASCs, with 16 additional facilities under develop- ment. 3. SurgCenter Development's more than 1,800 physician partners have performed 38,000-plus joint replacements since rolling out programs to shift these cases to the outpatient setting. "We're excited to take this step and significantly expand and enhance Hu- mana members' access to total joint replacement outside the hospital, in a surgery center setting, through this national agreement with SurgCenter," Humana Care Decision Insights Medical Director Preeti Jois, MD, said in a press release. n New Jersey men plead guilty to defrauding investors in fake ASC – 5 details By Laura Dyrda I n New Jersey, a father and son pleaded guilty to defrauding investors who thought they were purchasing shares of an ASC, according to the New Jersey attorney general's office. Five things to know: 1. e two men, George Bussanich Sr. and George Bussanich Jr., paid $5.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Bu- reau of Securities in 2014 for their involve- ment in a scheme to defraud ASC investors. e settlement included $4 million in inves- tor restitution. ey later defrauded several of the same investors again. 2. e state is seeking prison time for both men, as well as probation for Wilma Bussanich, George Bussanich Jr.'s mother, who pleaded guilty to third-degree money laundering. 3. From May 2009 to July 2013, both George Baussanich Sr. and George Baussanich Jr., pleaded guilty to misleading 26 investors about purchasing unregistered investment notes in Metropolitan Ambulatory Surgical Center, which was actually just a holding company controlled by the two men. e men made dividend payments from initial principle funds and then diverted money to personal purchases, including homes and several luxury cars. 4. In 2014, the two men were barred from the New Jersey securities industry and con- trolling or acting as officers or directors of entities selling securities. However, the men began asking for investments in a second fake company a month aer their barring. Fieen of the 26 investors they initially defrauded also invested in the second fake company, with total investments topping $3 million. 5. Under their plea agreements, George Bussanich Sr., faces 10 years in prison while George Bussanich Jr. faces eight years in prison. n