ATLANTA - More doctors will be able to open their own surgery centers under a measure proposed Thursday by the Department of Community Health.

Physicians' groups, which have for years pushed the department and the General Assembly to make the changes, hailed the proposal as a victory for patients, but hospital groups argued it could harm some hospitals already struggling to make ends meet.

The proposal, which gained preliminary approval Thursday from the department's board, deals with the state's controversial "certificate of need" rules. Under those rules, major medical facilities and some outpatient surgery centers have to gain approval from the state by proving that the service they want to provide is needed in the area.

General surgeons, who focus on abdominal surgeries, would no longer have to get a certificate of need before opening their own surgical centers.

Instead, general surgery would be classified as a "single specialty," a designation many medical associations have already given the practice.

Single-specialty surgery centers that are in a doctor's office are exempt from the certificate of need laws.

"Patients are really the winners today, and will be the winners if this rule is finally adopted," said Kathy Browning, the executive director of the Georgia Society of General Surgeons. She said the measure could allow patients easier access to some procedures and could bring down the price of some surgeries, such as breast biopsies and gall bladder operations.

Community Health Commissioner Rhonda Medows said the change was simply a step toward "leveling the playing field" for general surgeons.

"We feel that they should be recognized at the same level as a single specialty," she said.

The move is certain to spark a fierce backlash from the state's hospital lobby, which has worked against similar proposals for years.

Hospitals say they use the shield provided by the certificate of need rules to make up for the state's skimpy reimbursements for Medicaid patients. Georgia pays around 85 percent of the cost of procedures for Medicaid patients.