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Hospitals' Lawyers Debate Plan for Heart Center

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By James D. Mcwilliams, The State, Columbia, S.C.

Feb. 14--Hospitals disagreed in court Monday over whether offering heart surgery in Lexington County would be good or bad for health care in the Columbia area.

The arguments were presented on the opening day of hearings in the S.C. Administrative Law Court in Columbia. Lexington Medical Center is appealing a decision by state health officials that denied the hospital's plan for a heart center.

Health officials were "arbitrary" and "capricious" in deciding not to allow the heart center, the hospital's attorneys argued.

Such a heart center is important to meet the needs of a growing county, especially during emergencies, said David B. Summer Jr., one of the attorneys for the Lexington hospital. Further, the center is allowed under the state health plan, he said.

The state health plan allows a county to add a heart center if the only hospital there must do a certain heart procedure -- called a diagnostic heart catheterization -- on 1,200 patients per year, Summer said. Lexington Medical did that procedure on 1,532 patients in 2005.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control disagreed with the Lexington hospital's interpretation of the rule, as did the competing Palmetto Health Richland and Providence hospitals, during their own opening arguments.

The Richland County hospitals argued they would lose at least $11.6 million in business to a Lexington heart center, and that patient care would be adversely affected as a result. The state health plan discourages hospital expansions that harm patient care, lawyers for the Richland hospitals argued.

Providence Hospital lawyer Jimmy Long also said emergency heart surgery is more rare than Lexington Medical Center suggests. Most heart surgeries are scheduled in advance, he said.

DHEC turned down the Lexington hospital's plan for a heart center in October 2004. The hospital appealed to the S.C. Administrative Law Court, which is now hearing the case.

The three hospitals and DHEC are presenting their respective cases before S.C. Administrative Law Judge John D. Geathers. The administrative trial is expected to last 19 days, closing March 10.

A decision in the case is probably several months away.

If the judge's decision is appealed, the case would next go to the DHEC board. Appeals of board decisions go to the state circuit court, where the normal appellate process kicks in.

Reach McWilliams at (803) 771-8308 or jmcwilliams@thestate.com [mailto:jmcwilliams@thestate.com].

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Copyright (c) 2006, The State, Columbia, S.C.

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Singapore:R14,

Source: The State (Columbia, S.C.)

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