A new California bill will allow Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla to offer cardiac catheterizations in their new outpatient buildings, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Previously, California hospitals were allowed to perform the procedure only in main hospital buildings.
While the California Nurses Association opposed the bill, claiming an outpatient setting would provide fewer safeguards for problems during a procedure, the California Hospital Association, Cedars-Sinai and Scripps Memorial said the outpatient buildings will connect to the main hospital, providing access to operating rooms in case of an emergency, according to the report. The bill also aims to reduce patients' wait times for undergoing a catheterization.
Cedars-Sinai broke ground on a $350 million outpatient building in 2009 and expects to open the facility in late 2013. Scripps Memorial is still planning its new outpatient building.
The bill initially applied to all California hospitals but was later limited to Cedars-Sinai and Scripps Memorial, according to the report.
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Previously, California hospitals were allowed to perform the procedure only in main hospital buildings.
While the California Nurses Association opposed the bill, claiming an outpatient setting would provide fewer safeguards for problems during a procedure, the California Hospital Association, Cedars-Sinai and Scripps Memorial said the outpatient buildings will connect to the main hospital, providing access to operating rooms in case of an emergency, according to the report. The bill also aims to reduce patients' wait times for undergoing a catheterization.
Cedars-Sinai broke ground on a $350 million outpatient building in 2009 and expects to open the facility in late 2013. Scripps Memorial is still planning its new outpatient building.
The bill initially applied to all California hospitals but was later limited to Cedars-Sinai and Scripps Memorial, according to the report.
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