Presbyterian Healthcare Renews Fight for Fort Mill Hospital

Charlotte, N.C.-based Presbyterian Healthcare returned to court Monday in its latest bid to win approval for a highly sought-after certificate of need to build a hospital in Fort Mill, S.C, according to a Charlotte Business Journal.

Presbyterian Healthcare — a division of Novant Health in Winston-Salem, N.C. — Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare and Charlotte-based Carolinas HealthCare System have been vying for CONs to build a hospital in Fort Mill since 2004, when South Carolina officials determined more hospital beds were needed for the area.

In 2006, the state granted Tenet approval to build a hospital. However, Carolinas HealthCare and Presbyterian appealed the decision. In April 2006, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the three systems should resubmit bids.

In September 2011, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control awarded Carolinas HealthCare a CON to build a $77.5 million, 64-bed hospital in Fort Mill. However, that decision was appealed to the S.C. Administrative Law Court by Tenet and Presbyterian. The court date for that hearing has been set for February, according to the report.

Presbyterian has now filed a new motion asking S.C. Administrative Law Judge S. Phillip Lenski for a summary judgment that would remand the issue back to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. According to the report, Presbyterian contends the decision to approve Carolinas HealthCare's proposal violated the state's CON & Health Facility Licensure Act.

Judge Lenski did not set a timetable for ruling on Presbyterian's request. If the motion is denied, the next step will be the hearing before the administrative law judge in February. According to the report, that court's ruling could be appealed to the S.C. Court of Appeals but would require a $1.5 million non-refundable bond.

According to the report, Tenet is waiting for February's trial and did not join in Presbyterian's motion to remand the issue back to DHEC, said Katie Ferguson, a spokeswoman for the health system.

More Articles on the Proposed Fort Mill Hospital:

Tenet to Battle Over Fort Mill, S.C. Hospital Rights in Court Again
Tenet, Novant File Appeals Over Carolinas HealthCare's Fort Mill Hospital
Carolinas HealthCare Gets CON Approval for New Hospital in Fort Mill, Beating Out Tenet and Novant

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