“We are very optimistic we will be approved,” says Betsy Slavinskas, director of ambulatory care for UR Medicine, regarding a proposed ambulatory (outpatient) surgery center for Strong West in Brockport.
The state Public Health and Health Planning Council will vote on the application February 13.
UR Medicine officials say a public hearing on the application held January 30 in New York City went smoothly with no surprises.
If approval comes this month, renovation work could begin in the near future to update three operating rooms with new equipment, officials say. It is hoped that the ambulatory surgical center will be open by late summer.
Slavinskas says orthopedic surgery will be available as well as endoscopic procedures and possibly gynecologic surgery – as long as the patient is able to return home following the procedure. UR Medicine is currently discussing exactly what services will be provided by the new ASC with local health care providers, she says.
Strong West is also creating a new suite area for procedures which do not require anesthesiologists, local procedures – such as pain procedures for the spine and back and procedures relating to long-term infusion therapy, Slavinskas says.
UR Medicine purchased the former Lakeside Hospital last spring and opened the Strong West Urgent Care Center in September. It had been hoped that the ED and outpatient surgery center would open early in 2014. Strong West is continuing to pursue an emergency department, but officials say the state requested that the application for the ED be separated from the certificate of need for the ambulatory surgical center in order for the state to take a closer look at the application.
A free-standing ED is a new model of care, officials say, and the state is working to develop criteria for what they should look like. The emergency department application is now on its own, separate track for approval, officials say.
“It’s a new and different concept,” Slavinskas explains. “Emergency departments are usually associated with an institution or hospital.”
She says UR Medicine is working to meet all state requirements to create “an environment that will be the best it can be for patients.”
Currently, design documents are being provided to the state, but Slavinskas says it is impossible to say at this point when an ED might be open at Strong West.
Slavinskas says UR Medicine is aware of the importance of an ED to Brockport and the surrounding community. An emergency department would give back to the Brockport community what it had and relied on in the past, she says.
When an ED is reinstated, it will be able to accept ambulances – something the urgent care center cannot do – and provide a higher level of care, UR Medicine officials explain.
“We are very, very happy to be there,” Slavinskas says of Strong West in Brockport. “We look forward to being able to provide more services.”
She adds that although there have been unexpected delays, “the end result will be very good. We are very excited.”
