The Pleasure Island Ambulatory Surgery Center had approached the CON review board in April requesting a CON for its proposed $9.4 million ASC, but was rejected.
Despite the latest rejection, a representative for Pleasure Island indicated that the ASC is not giving up on its efforts to open the facility.
“”We will definitely be appealing. I think today gave us even better cause for the appeal,” said Denise Barton, a spokeswoman for Pleasure Island, on grounds that the CON review board did not fully consider the group’s arguments, according to the Press-Register.
The Florida-based ASC group is comprised of Baldwin County doctors and a subsidiary of Pensacola’s Sacred Heart Health System. Supporters for the new ASC included the cities of Gulf Shore and Orange Beach.
Those opposed to the ASC included the Infirmary Health System — which control Fairhope’s Thomas Hospital and Bay Minette’s North Baldwin Infirmary — and the Foley’s South Baldwin Regional Medical Center. Their lawyers have argued that existing operating rooms are already underused and that Pleasure Island is looking to profit on a potentially lucrative area without having to provide costly charity care.
Read the Press-Register column on the Pleasure Island Ambulatory Surgery Center.
