K 694: Memorializing Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim August 2025, as Ambulatory Surgery Center Month in the State of New York

 Assembly Resolution No. 694 BY: M. of A. Paulin MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim August 2025, 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 2025, 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 179 single specialty and/or multi-specialty facilities are in operation as licensed diagnostic and treatment centers, as of January 2025, 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 6,300 Medicare-certified Ambulatory Surgery Center facilities in the United States and 197,507 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, 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 3,500 different procedures are performed at ASCs, including the most common: cataract surgeries, colonoscopies, endoscopies and orthopedic procedures; 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 2025, 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.