Assembly Resolution No. 871

BY: M. of A. Rules (Gottfried)

MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
August 2022, as Ambulatory Surgery Center Month in
the State of New York, in conjunction with the
observance of National Ambulatory Surgery Center
Month

WHEREAS, The State of New York takes great pride in recognizing
certain months of the year, in the hopes of increasing awareness of
important medical conditions, education, treatment and care; and

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to memorialize
Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim August 2022, as Ambulatory Surgery
Center Month in the State of New York, in conjunction with the
observance of National Ambulatory Surgery Center Month; and

WHEREAS, For more than 50 years, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC)
have provided high quality, cost-efficient surgical care for millions of
Americans, including here in New York State where 165 freestanding
single specialty and/or multi-specialty facilities are in operation as
licensed diagnostic and treatment centers, as of March 2021, and further
growth is expected; and

WHEREAS, ASCs offers same day surgical care for thousands of
procedures for patients overseen by a multidisciplinary team to assure
quality care and post-procedure follow up, which were previously
performed exclusively in hospitals; and

WHEREAS, First established in Phoenix, Arizona, today there are
9,280 active Ambulatory Surgery Center facilities in the United States
and 177,554 health care professionals across the United States employed
by ASCs, which in 2009, had a total economic impact in excess of 90
billion dollars; and

WHEREAS, ASCs provide greater flexibility for where routine surgical
care can be obtained, often times reducing the amount of time and delay
encountered by patients especially now as elective procedures resume and
New Yorkers return for care that they delayed during COVID-19; and

WHEREAS, Employees of ASCs continue to operate amid COVID-19 and
emerging variants to provide surgical care to New Yorkers, thereby
preserving hospital bed capacity for the most critically ill; and

WHEREAS, ASC facilities are fully licensed and accredited, adhering
to strict regulation and oversight by the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, and Department of Health; and

WHEREAS, A specialization of specific surgical procedures at ASC
facilities ensuring quality of care and excellent outcome and more than
69% are small businesses employing twenty or fewer employees and a
growing number are women and minority owned; and

WHEREAS, More than 2,000 different procedures are performed at ASCs
including the most common: cataract surgeries, colonoscopies,

endoscopies and orthopedic procedures and decreased the overall cost of
outpatient surgery by $38 billion according to a 2014 study; and

WHEREAS, ASCs deserve our collective acknowledgment, recognition and
gratitude for providing safe and efficient surgical treatment to New
Yorkers and striving to increase access to surgical care and reduce
health care disparities; and

WHEREAS, It is imperative that there be greater awareness of this
serious health condition, and more must be done to increase activity at
the local, State and National levels; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim August 2022, as Ambulatory
Surgery Center Month in the State of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York; the New York State Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers; and
the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association.