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Barrow Regional cites negative impact of new hospital
Lawsuit centers on proposed Braselton facility
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A new hospital in Braselton would have a “significant” negative impact on the nearby Barrow Regional Medical Center, according to a top official.
Barrow Regional filed a lawsuit last week in opposition to Northeast Georgia Health System’s plans to open a 100-bed hospital on a 119-acre medical campus in Braselton.
Northeast Georgia is slated to open its hospital in 2012, when the widening and realignment of Thompson Mill Road (S.R. 347) is expected to be complete.
Healthcare facilities in Georgia are required to complete a Certificate of Need (CON) application when they are planning expansion of facilities or services.
Northeast Georgia received state approval for its Braselton hospital in April 2007, but Barrow Regional later filed two appeals with the Georgia Department of Community Health, which reviews CON applications. Barrow Regional lost those two appeals and took its last remedy — a lawsuit.
Barrow Regional CEO Joe Clancy said Tuesday that Northeast Georgia’s new hospital will have a “significant” impact on the Winder facility, located 11 miles from the proposed Braselton hospital.
An estimated 20 percent of Barrow Regional’s patients are those who don’t have insurance to pay for services, Clancy said. Another 21 percent of patients receive Medicaid benefits, which typically don’t provide enough funds to healthcare providers.
Barrow Regional contends in the lawsuit that a new hospital in Braselton would not only reduce the number of patients at the 56-bed hospital in Winder, but also affect its financial stability.
“If competition from the new, nearby South Hall facility prevents Barrow from treating insured patients from these more affluent areas, it will have a dramatic effect on Barrow’s financial line,” according to the lawsuit.
Barrow Regional claims it needs the projected population growth in the area to bring patients to its facility to help it reach a financial even point.
Clancy said Barrow Regional predicts that about 10 percent of the market share of patients will be shifted to the Braselton facility.
Northeast Georgia is investing $208 million for the Braselton medical complex. Barrow Regional has spent nearly $3.5 million in capital improvements and new equipment since Health Management Associates bought the facility in 2006, according to court documents.
Clancy said Barrow Regional doesn’t have plans to expand its facilities soon, but will continue to provide additional physician services.
‘ERROR’ IN REVIEW PROCESS
Barrow Regional also contends in its lawsuit that the state erred when it granted a CON to Northeast Georgia for its Braselton facility. The Georgia Department of Community Health is a co-defendant in the lawsuit.
Barrow Regional claims that when Northeast Georgia filed its initial CON application, it said the Braselton hospital would provide 100 “replacement” beds.
Northeast Georgia Health System was planning to close its 96-bed Lanier Park facility in Gainesville and replace it with 100 hospital beds in Braselton, the lawsuit contends.
Northeast Georgia later amended its CON application to state that the Braselton hospital would include 100 “new” beds. Barrow Regional says that amendment resulted in a “total change” in the scope of the Braselton project.
Northeast Georgia Health System spokesperson Cathy Bowers defended the move in a statement released on Monday.
“That amendment was simply a change from replacement beds to new beds based on a numeric bed need calculation that showed the immense need for beds in that specific location, reaffirming (Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s) position that the Greater Braselton area needs this hospital,” Bowers wrote. “The original application was for a 100-bed acute care hospital with 24/7 emergency room services and the amended (and approved) application was for the same: a 100-bed acute care hospital with 24/7 emergency services.“
Bowers added that amending CON applications is routine and the state rules allow for such changes. She said the changes were later substantiated when the state approved the CON application and upheld two appeals from Barrow Regional.
Clancy said the amendment process wasn’t fair to everyone involved in the CON process. The lawsuit contends that other area hospitals didn’t protest the proposed Braselton facility because a “replacement” hospital is viewed as less competitive than a new facility.
“We want the CON process to be fair and equitable for all of those involved,” Clancy said.
Clancy said Tuesday that he wasn’t aware if any court hearing date has been set for the lawsuit.
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