The state Office of Health Strategy (OHS) will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday for an application from a New York-based health management company to acquire a majority stake in an orthopedic surgical center in Danbury.
Health Plus Ortho Management LLC (HPM), based in Uniondale, New York, filed a Certificate of Need (CON) application in January to acquire an additional 17.7% of the ownership interest in Orthopaedic Specialty Surgery Center LLC (OSSC), located at 40 Old Ridgebury Road, Suite 201, in Danbury.
If approved, HPM would increase its stake in the facility from 40% to 57.7%. According to the application, the cost to acquire the additional stake will be approximately $7.26 million.
Currently, 19 physicians at OSSC own a combined 60% majority stake, and according to the application no physician owner would sell all of his or her interest in the surgical center.
HPM said its acquisition of the majority stake “will help sustain the continued high quality of services” provided to the region, which the facility has served since 2019. The deal will also provide “continued accessibility to a lower-cost option for ambulatory surgery for patients,” the application states.
It adds that, if the deal is approved, the center will continue to offer the same surgical services and serve the same patient population, and that all existing fees, price structure, payer enrollments/contracts and patient costs will be unaffected.
The communities served by the facility include Danbury, Brookfield, Bethel, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Norwalk, Redding, Ridgefield and Stamford.
Tuesday’s public hearing will begin at 9 a.m. and be held virtually via a Zoom conference call. To join the hearing, click here. To dial in to the hearing, call +1 (646) 876-9923 and use Meeting ID 830 2772 2220 and Passcode 550022.
