The Surgery Center at Shrewsbury (Mass.) opened May 24, becoming the first new center in Massachusetts since the state lifted a moratorium preventing new centers in 2017, Mass Live reports.
Here's what you should know.
1. The state implemented a moratorium on new ASC construction in 1971, after local hospitals lobbied to protect their services and revenue. Legislators lifted the moratorium in 2017, granting community hospitals a veto power for centers in their immediate area.
2. The 35,000-square-foot Surgery Center at Shrewsbury is the first new center since then. The center's physicians will perform its first operation June 4. The center already has seven scheduled surgeries.
3. The center features nine operating rooms and 32 preoperative and postoperative recovery bays.
4. Initially, the center will offer orthopedics and plastic surgery services, with administrators planning to add ENT, urology and general surgery procedures eventually.
5. The center is a joint venture between Worcester-based UMass Memorial Health Care, Brockton, Mass.-based Shields Healthcare Group and Auburn, Mass.-based Reliant Medical Group.