WellStar Health System in Georgia Appeals Northside Hospital's CON Exemption

Marietta, Ga.-based WellStar Health System opposes the state's decision to exempt Atlanta-based Northside Hospital from the certificate of need process and permit it to build a replacement facility in Canton, Ga., according to a Marietta Daily Journal report.

Northside Hospital plans to replace and relocate Northside Hospital-Cherokee, an 84-bed hospital, with a new facility on a different site. In February, the Georgia Department of Community Health ruled that Northside did not need a certificate of need for the project, rejecting WellStar's contention.

WellStar recently filed a request for an agency review hearing with the department to challenge the decision. This appeal follows two former objections filed by WellStar in September and November, both of which were rejected.

WellStar spokesman Keith Bowermaster said Northside did not offer adequate proof that it will not expand services at the new hospital, according to the report. Northside spokesman Russ Davis said the current project is only to replace the 84-hospital and that WellStar's objections are designed to delay construction of the new facility, according to the report.

Future plans, however, call for a women's center, a multi-specialty medical office building and a cancer center at the new Northside campus at a cost of roughly $250 million.

The new hospital is expected to open by March 2015.

More Articles on Certificates of Need:

Lexington Medical Center in SC to Offer Open-Heart Surgery After 10-Year Struggle
Martin Health System Breaks Ground on $110M Hospital 14 Years After First CON Request

New Hampshire House Votes to Repeal Certificate of Need Law

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