Colchester, Vt.-based Green Mountain Surgery Center lead investor Amy Cooper held a ribbon-cutting for the state's first ASC March 22, the Burlington Free Press reports.
What you should know:
1. Green Mountain Surgery Center is the culmination of nearly five years of efforts. Despite the ribbon-cutting, the center is not yet open to the public. The center is in the midst of earning Medicare certification and is not expected to open until June or July.
2. The center was heavily contested during certificate of need hearings, but ultimately the Green Mountain Care Board approved the center in July 2017.
3. Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and Attorney General T.J. Donovan attended the ribbon cutting. Mr. Donovan said, "Access to affordable healthcare is a consumer protection issue, period. Any time we give consumers choice in any industry, that's a good thing. Healthcare should be no different."
4. Vermont was the last state in the U.S. without an ASC.