Governor Christie signed a long awaited and debated bill that would require licensure of one room surgical centers in New Jersey.
A similar bill was passed in 2012 but then vetoed by Gov. Christie over financial and other concerns. Licensure will now be overseen by the New Jersey Department of Health. Previously, one-room centers were overseen by the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners.
"We have had this on our agenda and been working toward this day for some eight years," says Jeff Shanton, President of NJAASC. "This is a great day for the NJAASC; indeed a ground breaking and seminal moment, and an important piece of legislation for the surgical center industry in New Jersey."
"This is important for two reasons," says Mr. Shanton. "First New Jersey will now have one uniform standard for ambulatory surgical facilities, and second the Department of Health is more experienced and staffed to oversee these facilities."
"We have several features in the bill to minimize the burden on one-rooms associated with licensure;
they would be exempt from the Ambulatory Facility Assessment, and from certain physical plant and functional requirements as long as they are Medicare-certified and accredited by one of the bodies recognized by CMS," continued Mr. Shanton.
In addition, the bill would allow a combination of facilities.
"With the Codey Law moratorium restricting the construction or enlargement of facilities unless with a hospital partner, this bill would permit combinations among one-rooms and licensed facilities which will hopefully create some liquidity in the market that is desperately needed in light of the Codey Law," says Mr. Shanton.