Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim August 2026, as Ambulatory Surgery Center Month in the State of New York

Assembly Resolution No. 1333

BY: M. of A. Rules (Paulin)

        MEMORIALIZING  Governor  Kathy  Hochul to proclaim
        August 2026, as Ambulatory Surgery Center  Month  in
        the State of New York

  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  2026,  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

  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 2026, 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.