Senate advances bill allowing small skilled-nursing units attached to ambulatory surgical centers

The Utah Senate advanced Senate Bill 199, which would permit an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) to establish a single, small skilled-nursing facility on its campus with between four and 16 beds and a maximum length of stay of 10 days.

Sponsor remarks described the measure as an innovation to expand rehabilitation and post-operative care capacity without creating a full hospital. Supporters said tighter coordination between surgeons and post-operative nursing care could reduce complications, shorten stays and lower costs; proponents also pointed to experiences in other states where similar models reduced certain costs.

Senators questioned how the proposal would align with the statutory definition of a hospital and assurances were offered that the bill's definitions and provisions would be clarified so the ASCs and the Utah Hospital Association could be comfortable that these units would not be treated as hospitals under other regulatory schemes. The sponsor also noted a moratorium on nursing-home bed growth and described the bill as a limited and targeted opening within that constraint.

The clerk reported the first substitute of SB199 had received 22 'yay' votes, 0 'nay' votes and 7 absences; the bill was placed on the bottom of the third-reading calendar for future action.

Next steps: The bill was set for third reading placement and may be scheduled for a final chamber vote at a later calendar slot; sponsors said they would work to refine statutory language to address hospital-definition and regulatory questions.

Source: Sponsor floor remarks, questioning and clerks' roll-call report during the Utah Senate session.