At its August 7, meeting, the State Hospital Review and Planning Council (SHRPC) approved (in some cases with conditions or contingencies), the following GNYHA member projects: Orange Regional Medical Center, construction of a second shared cardiac catheterization/EPS laboratory (cath lab); NYU Hospitals Center, conversion of six existing medical/surgical beds to six allogenic bone marrow transplant beds; White Plains Hospital Center, a major modernization of its facility; Mount Sinai Hospital and Lutheran Medical Center, a joint certification, where Mount Sinai Hospital would operate the existing cardiac catheterization laboratory located at Lutheran Medical Center.
     
New Members: Three new SHRPC members were introduced at the meeting: Patricia Smith Bransford, President, National Urban Technology Center; Carolyn K. Callner, Deputy Commissioner, Schenectady County Public Health Services; and Edwin T. Graham, President and CEO, Gilda’s Club Capital Region NY.
     
Ambulatory Surgery Report: DOH staff presented preliminary research on the number of diagnostic and treatment centers (D&TCs) currently operating that provide ambulatory surgery services, i.e., freestanding, non-hospital-based ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs); their compliance with Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) reporting requirements; their payments into Health Care Reform Act (HCRA) pools; and their payer mix. Among the preliminary findings of the DOH research:

• CON Applications: 87 ASCs currently operate in New York State. Of these, eight are partially owned by a hospital (i.e., the hospital is not the principal operator).
• SPARCS Reports: 78 ASCs were required to report data to SPARCS (9 have yet to obtain the SPARCS platform and/or receive training in reporting). Of these, approximately 16 facilities have not filed all required SPARCS data, 4 received statements of deficiency for failure to file, and the remaining 12 either filed incomplete data or data in the wrong format. 
• HCRA Pool Payments: Of 86 ASCs required to file reports, 18 were delinquent in the last cycle, and one is subject to Medicaid recoupment for prior periods. The 18 delinquent ASCs are in various stages of enforcement.

DOH continues to analyze encounter and claims data to compare payer mix and types of procedures in hospital-affiliated centers as compared to freestanding, non-hospital based ASCs. In addition to reviewing these data, DOH has surveyed the CON establishment policies of 19 other states and is meeting with stakeholders including the NYS Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers, HANYS, and GNYHA.