Here are the reasons why five ASCs have faced or are currently facing opposition in their development process in 2025:
1. The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy has pushed back against a proposed sale involving Constitution Surgery Alliance, citing concerns over governance and ownership changes affecting multiple ASCs.
Avon, Conn.-based CSA, a major for-profit operator of ASCs in the state, is seeking to sell 60% of the membership interests to an undisclosed buyer for an undisclosed price. The company directly or indirectly owns stakes in nine surgical facilities across Connecticut.
2. An outpatient medical complex is moving forward in South Mississippi without the support of county supervisors and nearby Singing River Health System. Groundbreaking for the Gautier facility occurred Jan. 25. The $25 million facility will be built on property owned by local physicians Sati Adlakha, DO, and Ed Tasan, MD.
Last year, the physicians applied for and were granted a certificate of need from the state health department to build the cardiac care center with four catheterization labs, but Singing River Health System is appealing the decision to issue the CON. Mississippi requires new ASCs to partner with a hospital. Dr. Adlakha first asked Singing River to partner on the new facility, but when they rejected, they partnered with Memorial Hospital in Gulfport, Miss. The two health systems have already been in competition for patients, clinics and physicians.
3. The construction of Munson Healthcare’s ASC in Cadillac, Mich., was continued following a stop-work order. The order, which was implemented Jan. 21 and removed Jan. 23, came after the site struggled to secure a well permit due to possible perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination.
The order was lifted after Clam Lake Township invoked a provision from a 2019 settlement agreement which required the city to approve water and sewer services for the township’s district. The township then lifted the stop-work order and will now focus on securing water and sewer connections for the ASC.
4. The State Health Planning and Development Agency of Alabama approved Montgomery-based Southern Orthopedic Surgeons’ CON request for an ASC. The move to approve the ASC comes a month after plans were tabled amid opposition from two local hospitals. The orthopedic practice was asked to work on a resolution with officials at the hospitals, Birmingham, Ala.-based Baptist Health and Jackson Hospital, who worried the ASC could negatively affect them
5. A judge in Connecticut dismissed a 2021 appeal by Day Kimball Healthcare against the state and Hartford HealthCare over approval of a Plainfield, Conn.-based ASC. The judge ruled that Day Kimball lacked the legal standing to challenge the ASC because “the financial and competitive interests asserted by Day Kimball in this appeal are not within the zone of interests,” protected by state law. Officials with Day Kimball plan to appeal the decision, which was related to the approval of an HHC ASC.
