A Bethlehem Township surgical center may lose permission to treat Medicare patients next month after complaints and inspections found deficient medical practices, including failure to inform patients properly of the risks of surgery, using unlicensed staff to operate x-ray equipment, skipping pre-surgical examinations of patients and allowing propane gas to leak inside the center for a month. After shutting Valley Surgical Center for one day in November, state health officials received assurances from its operators that they had fixed the shortcomings. A follow-up inspection in January, however, indicated ongoing issues, leading to the decision to kick the center out of Medicare, the nation's largest health insurance program, on March 1.
