CHICAGO--NovaMed (Nasdaq: NOVA) reported total net revenues of $23.9 million for its first quarter ended March 31, a 31 percent increase.

The company’s net revenues from its surgical facilities rose 33 percent, to $17.9 million during the period.

NovaMed’s net income in this year’s first quarter was $1.36 million, up slightly from its $1.35 million in net income in 2005’s Q1.

NovaMed also acquired a 51 percent interest in the Eye Surgery Center of Arkansas, in Jonesboro, Ark. This is the company’s first surgery center in that state, and its second acquisition in the past two months.

In the last year, more than 3,800 ophthalmic surgical procedures were performed at the Arkansas center, according to NovaMed president and chief executive officer Thomas Hall. The company now has ownership interests in 31 surgery centers located in 17 states.