North Carolina's Mecklenburg County will stop payments to Charlotte, N.C.-based Carolinas HealthCare System until the system provides more information about its request to build a new psychiatric hospital, according to a Charlotte Observer report.
CHS runs the county health department and 66-bed CMC-Randolph, a psychiatric hospital in Charlotte, N.C., under a contract with the county. County Manager Harry Jones has accused CHS of breaching this contract.
He also claimed the system tried to circumvent the county's indecision on CHS' proposed plans for a new 44-bed psychiatric care hospital by pushing through legislation that the county was unaware of until recently. This legislation, scheduled for a Senate vote today, would allow CHS to transfer psychiatric beds from a state hospital to a community facility like the proposed new hospital without prior approval from a "local management entity."
While Mr. Jones said the county did not approve nor oppose the new hospital, it did request information proving a need for the hospital. Until the county receives this information, it will halt monthly installments to CHS totaling $40 million a year for running CMC-Randolph and the health department.
The county also provides $20 million to CHS each year for caring for the indigent. However, county commissioners will soon vote on a budget that would cut subsidies to local hospitals for care for indigent patients. The county is also considering cutting $500,000 from a contract between the hospital system and county health department and phasing out county money for CMC-Randolph.
Read the Charlotte Observer report on the contract disagreement between Mecklenburg County and Carolinas HealthCare System.
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CHS runs the county health department and 66-bed CMC-Randolph, a psychiatric hospital in Charlotte, N.C., under a contract with the county. County Manager Harry Jones has accused CHS of breaching this contract.
He also claimed the system tried to circumvent the county's indecision on CHS' proposed plans for a new 44-bed psychiatric care hospital by pushing through legislation that the county was unaware of until recently. This legislation, scheduled for a Senate vote today, would allow CHS to transfer psychiatric beds from a state hospital to a community facility like the proposed new hospital without prior approval from a "local management entity."
While Mr. Jones said the county did not approve nor oppose the new hospital, it did request information proving a need for the hospital. Until the county receives this information, it will halt monthly installments to CHS totaling $40 million a year for running CMC-Randolph and the health department.
The county also provides $20 million to CHS each year for caring for the indigent. However, county commissioners will soon vote on a budget that would cut subsidies to local hospitals for care for indigent patients. The county is also considering cutting $500,000 from a contract between the hospital system and county health department and phasing out county money for CMC-Randolph.
Read the Charlotte Observer report on the contract disagreement between Mecklenburg County and Carolinas HealthCare System.
Related Articles on Carolinas HealthCare System:
Carolinas HealthCare Buys Land for New Hospital While Awaiting CON Decision
North Carolina's New Hanover Regional Medical Center Considers Partnership With Carolinas HealthCare System
Carolinas HealthCare Sees $146.8M Decrease in Earnings