Despite opposition from the local ophthalmologists, the

State University of New York State College of Optometry is moving ahead with plans to build an ambulatory care surgical center within the University Optometric Center.

SUNY first proposed expanding the clinics certificate of need more than two years ago, says Alden N. Haffner, O.D., Ph.D., president of SUNYs optometry school. The certificate is a state-issued document that regulates the services a health-care facility can offer.

SUNYs 16 faculty and staff ophthalmologists now refer patients to hospitals at which they have admitting privileges for cataract or other ocular surgery. By adding the ASC, the University Optometric Center will be able to offer its patients more services, allow students to observe surgical procedures, and allow students and faculty to comanage cases, Dr. Haffner says.

The state approved the ASC last fall after a 20-month review process. The Commissioner of Health indicated that it was perfectly appropriate for the University Optometric Center to have an expansion of its certificate of need, Dr. Haffner says.

Thats not how opponents feel. Critics argue that theres no need for another ASC in the community, and that it will only drain patients from the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

Not so, Dr. Haffner says, pointing out that the planned ASC will only have three surgical suites, plus an additional suite for laser vision correction.
It is not our intent to utilize this except for the benefit of our own patients and for those patients who, of course, would want to come to the university for the services, he says. Were not going to turn anybody away, but were not going to be reaching out to reduce the surgical loads that exist in the other hospitals.

The facility is approved to begin construction in April, but the school has asked for an extension, So that we can do this in an orderly and regularized way, Dr. Haffner says.

Nonetheless, we are determined to proceed with it, Dr. Haffner says. As of press time, he expected the school to formally announce the optometric centers expansion of services within four weeks.

Also at SUNY, the Vision Therapy Stroke Unit received a certificate of need to expand its rehabilitation services. As a result of a grant from a patient, the unit has added two occupational therapists to its team of optometrists, social workers and nurses.