Becker's ASC Review

16 ASC MANAGEMENT Illinois hospital begins $13.2M renovation to add new ASC By Claire Wallace Morris (Ill.) Hospital began a new round of renovations to create a $13.2 million surgery center. The new facility will include new heating and cooling systems, state-of-the-art ventilation, a sterile hallway, five prep and recovery rooms, a waiting room, a consultation room and a new exit. It will also include three new operating rooms with "modern surgical technology," according to an Aug. 2 press release, and will leave free space in case additional operating rooms are needed in the future. The project was approved by the Illinois Department of Public Health earlier this year, and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023. After the initial phase is completed, Morris Hospital will begin a second phase to convert current operating rooms into procedure rooms providing GI, bronchoscopy and anesthesia services. Previous phases of renovation included a woman's imaging center, an outpatient lab and cardio and imaging. n Texas hospital proposes new ASC as part of $345.7M expansion By Marcus Robertson University Medical Center of El Paso is proposing a $345.7 million expansion project that would create a new ASC and increase capacity at its medical center, children's hospital and cancer institute, the El Paso Times reported Aug. 17. The sum includes $176 million to expand capacity at the University Medical Center of El Paso and build an ASC, the report said. The hospital said it needs nine more operating rooms, six of which would be part of the ASC. n Geisinger opens $80M specialty outpatient center By Riz Hatton Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger cut the ribbon on its $80 million specialty outpatient center in Pittston, Pa., on Aug. 1, the Pennsylvania Business Report reported Aug. 2. Geisinger Healthplex CenterPoint offers services including endoscopies, urology, same-day surgery and eye care. The facility is 124,000 square feet. n $4.8M cardiology surgery center wins approval in Alabama By Patsy Newitt T he Heart & Vascular Institute of Alabama was cleared to build a single-specialty ASC in Montgomery aer facing opposition from other health systems and ASCs in the area, Lexology reported July 22. e construction cost of the project is estimated at $4.8 million, according to application documents. e center will feature one catheterization lab and a procedure room for future expansion and is slated to handle l,004 cases in its first year. e project faced more than a year of opposition from other providers, including the Healthcare Authority for Baptist Health; Prattville, Ala.- based Jackson Hospital & Clinic; and Jackson Surgery Center. Aer an administrative law judge twice recommended denying approval, it secured the judge's recommendation June 29, and the certificate of need review board approved the application July 22. e providers who opposed the project said it will lead to an "unnecessary duplication of services." Baptist South, for example, already has three cardiac catheterization labs, according to documents presented by the opposing providers, and has seen a decline in outpatient catheterization cases in the last three years. e opposing providers also expressed concern that the ASC would shi needed resources and revenue away from hospitals. n

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