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Physicians will open surgery center despite hospital dispute

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, July 18, 2006

A group of physicians in Festus, MO, will proceed with developing and opening an outpatient surgery center this fall since they could not reach a compensation agreement with a local hospital for use of its freestanding outpatient surgery center, according to a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The 10 to 15 physicians planning to operate at the Festus facility wanted to open their own facility independent of the hospital because it was "an issue of ownership and control," said Dr. Craig Ruble, an orthopedic surgeon and one of the physicians, according to the Post-Dispatch.

The new surgery center will substantially decrease the Jefferon Memorial Hospital's outpatient facility revenue, said Rick Fischer, a spokesman for the hospital and its surgery center.

"We'll lose some of our most profitable procedures," said Fischer, according to the Post-Dispatch. "But it's important to us that we make sure to maintain the viability of our [surgery] center."

To read the story, click here.

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