A new physician-owned hospital in Springfield, Ohio, was built before the new ban on new physician-owned hospitals takes effect but it will have to cancel plans for an expansion because of the ban, according to a report by the Springfield News-Sun.
The ban is part of the health reform legislation signed by President Obama, which stipulates a deadline of Aug. 1, but the deadline would be extended to Dec. 31 if the Senate passes the reconciliation version of the bill.
The 24-bed Ohio Valley Medical Center opened last summer, in plenty of time to meet the deadline, but it had planned to add capacity and now "we don’t have a lot of hedge room to grow," said Steve Eisentrager, a spokesman for the hospital.
He said the new law specifically limits new ORs and procedure rooms but does not appear to bar new ancillary services such as dialysis or imaging. However, the surgeon-owners first plan to add an allowable medical office building, possibly in the next year, he said.
Physician Hospitals of America predicted that more than 60 physician-owned hospitals under construction in 38 states would not open under current ownership due to the new law.
Read Springfield News-Sun's report on physician-owned hospitals.
The ban is part of the health reform legislation signed by President Obama, which stipulates a deadline of Aug. 1, but the deadline would be extended to Dec. 31 if the Senate passes the reconciliation version of the bill.
The 24-bed Ohio Valley Medical Center opened last summer, in plenty of time to meet the deadline, but it had planned to add capacity and now "we don’t have a lot of hedge room to grow," said Steve Eisentrager, a spokesman for the hospital.
He said the new law specifically limits new ORs and procedure rooms but does not appear to bar new ancillary services such as dialysis or imaging. However, the surgeon-owners first plan to add an allowable medical office building, possibly in the next year, he said.
Physician Hospitals of America predicted that more than 60 physician-owned hospitals under construction in 38 states would not open under current ownership due to the new law.
Read Springfield News-Sun's report on physician-owned hospitals.