The regulations, which will require surgery centers to under the same review process as hospitals seeking to expand, goes into effect in December.
Hospitals in the state, including Cape Cod Healthcare, have said surgery centers that take profitable patients and put the hospitals in distress, according to the Cape Cod Times.
But Robert Westergard, financial officer with the Ambulatory Surgical Centers of America, which is a part owner of the Ambulatory Surgery and Laser Center of Cape Cod in Sandwich, Mass., says surgery centers, which are a cheaper alternative to hospitals and with lower infection rates, are not to blame for hospital’s problems.
"Hospitals are paid substantially more than surgery centers," he said, according to the Cape Cod Times.
The new regulations and review process will also be applied to companies interested in opening outpatient clinics costing more than $25 million, according to The Boston Globe. There is no cost limit for surgery centers.
Read The Boston Globe coverage of the new Massaschussetts surgery center law.
Read the Cape Cod Times coverage of the new Massaschussetts surgery center law.
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