A judge approved a request made by Georgetown, S.C.-based Tidelands Health to expand patient care in the area, ending a three-year dispute over the project, according to The Coastal Observer.
A judge ordered the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to issue a certificate of need for 17 rehabilitation beds at Murrells Inlet, S.C.-based Waccamaw Community Hospital.
In 2013, Tidelands Health, which was formerly named Georgetown Hospital System, applied for a certificate of need to convert 15 acute care beds at Waccamaw Community Hospital into rehab beds. That same year, Grand Strand Regional Medical Center applied for 17 rehab beds under the state health plan and proposed building a $12 million facility.
The applications were delayed after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed funding for the agency to administer the CON program. The funds were restored following an appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court.
The DHEC ruled in favor of Waccamaw Hospital last year. The decision was upheld when Grand Strand appealed to the DHEC board. Grand Strand appealed the board's decision to the Administrative Law Court, but withdrew its case last week, according to the report.
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