CULLMAN, Ala. – Cullman Regional is taking steps to build an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) at Hartselle Health Park, a multiservice outpatient facility opened by the hospital in 2021. In Alabama, health care providers must seek state approval to build or add certain health care services including ASCs. Cullman Regional has initiated the approval process by submitting a Letter of Intent to Alabama’s Certificate of Need (CON) Review Board.
“An outpatient surgery center in Hartselle is another way to provide south Morgan County with local access to important quality health care services,” said Dr. Bill Smith, chief medical officer at Cullman Regional. “Advances in anesthesia and minimally invasive surgical techniques have resulted in an increasing number of surgical treatments that can be done safely in an outpatient setting. This gives patients more choice and more convenience.”
Many communities in Alabama have outpatient surgery centers like the one Cullman Regional is proposing. Most offer a wide variety of surgery options including endoscopy/colonoscopy, hernia repair and gall bladder removal. These surgeries and procedures are typically performed on an outpatient basis even when done in a hospital.
The proposed ASC would be built on property owned by Cullman Regional on the east side of U.S. Highway 31 and across from Hartselle Health Park’s two physician clinics. A construction timeline for the project will be announced if the CON application is approved.
Cullman Regional recently received approval on a separate CON application to build a freestanding emergency department at Hartselle Health Park. The construction for that project is set to begin soon.
“The Hartselle community showed tremendous support for the Hartselle Health Park freestanding ED throughout the approval process with the CON Review Board,” said Cullman Regional CEO James Clements. “We’re so grateful for that and we will need it again to bring an outpatient surgery center to Hartselle.”
