A Senate Republican on Thursday proposed allowing patients to stay overnight in ambulatory-surgical centers and allowing the creation of what are known as "recovery care centers."
The bill (SB 222), filed by Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, for the 2017 legislative session, could help refuel a debate about ambulatory-surgical centers and recovery care centers. The House during the 2016 session approved changes like those sought in Steube's bill, but the Senate balked.
Steube was elected to the Senate in November after serving in the House. The bill would allow patients to stay up to 24 hours at ambulatory surgical centers. Current law bars overnight stays.
Also, the bill calls for allowing the operation of recovery care centers, a new type of entity where patients could stay 72 hours after surgery. The 2017 session starts in March.
