Gastonia, N.C.-based CaroMont Health has lost its appeal in a suit it filed to prevent the opening of a competing endoscopy center in Gaston County, N.C., according to a report from the Charlotte Observer.
The case dates back to 2010, when North Carolina approved five Gaston County physicians' plans to open an outpatient endoscopy center, Greater Gaston Center, with Physicians Endoscopy, a national endoscopy center management company. Four of the five physicians are also on staff at Gaston Memorial, according to the report.
CaroMont, at the time the only endoscopy provider in Gaston County, filed a 2011 appeal to block the center's opening over concerns the physicians employed at Gaston Memorial would refer patients to GGC, which it claimed would harm CaroMont Health.
The judge in the case, Joe Webster, ruled in favor of GGC, a decision upheld by North Carolina's director of the Division of Health Regulation in the Department of Health and Human Services. Judge Webster found CaroMont was losing endoscopy business before GGC applied for approval, as patients had been seeking treatment outside of Gaston County. He ruled the competition created by GGC would be "No more than that normal effects of competition when physicians or patients may choose one facility over another," according to the report.
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