The ASC industry is projected to boom in the coming years as CMS, commercial payers and patients push procedures out of hospitals to the ambulatory environment, where they can be performed at a lower cost.
But many recent ASC proposals have been opposed by hospitals, health systems and other local providers who argue incoming surgery centers will cost them employees and patients.
Three planned ASCs facing opposition:
1. Beloit (Wis.) Health System filed a new appeal in February to block a $19M OrthoIllinois ASC, which was approved by the Beloit City Council in January. The health system is appealing the city zoning officer's approval of the ASC. "Allowing special permission and zoning accommodations for this private developer is a detriment to the community," said Timothy McKevett, the health system's CEO.
2. Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based Grand Strand Medical Center asked a state court to block Florence, S.C.-based McLeod Health's proposed $15.3 million ASC in Carolina Forest. The hospital calculated that Parkway Surgery Center — which is five miles from the proposed ASC — could lose 40 percent of its patients if McLeod's facility moves forward.
3. A group of Iowa City, Iowa, providers, including the University of Iowa Health Care, urged state officials to deny Steindler Clinic's planned $19.2 million ASC, arguing the project is unnecessary and unlawful because 13 of the clinic's physicians are also part owners of Iowa City-based Johnson County Surgical Investors and signed an agreement that prohibits them from working for or investing in a competitor.