“This is a terribly onerous ban, but there are ways around it,” says Dr. Pettine, pointing to his own surgery center. This three-OR facility, which hosts spine and orthopedic procedures, is attached to a six-bed convalescent center where post-op patients can stay indefinitely.
“We operate very much like a surgery hospital without all the hassles surgery hospitals have to face,” he says. The recovery center was opened seven years ago under a state program that has since been closed down, the state grandfathered in Loveland, one other Colorado ASC and several hospital-based ventures.
The Loveland facility is a rare bird because “hospitals objected to the program and prevailed on the legislature to close it down,” Dr. Pettine says. However, he believes ASCs could create the same arrangement by using a rehabilitation facility or a nursing home instead of a recovery center.
“Patients recovering from this type of surgery don’t need a full-blown hospital,” he says. “They are basically healthy people who need pain control.” Dr. Pettine does not know of any ASCs that have opened rehab facilities or nursing homes, but he believes the new ban will force centers to think in this direction.
Learn more about Loveland Surgery Center.
