Printer-friendly format

Danny Leverette, Spring Hill Mayor

SPRING HILL — “It’s a four-quarter ballgame. It’s halftime, and it’s 1 to 1. This one could very well go into overtime.” That’s Spring Hill Mayor Danny Leverette’s summation of the process so far to build an HCA-owned hospital in his city. The game will resume on Feb. 27, 2008.

After Administrative Law Judge Leonard Pogue overturned approval of a certificate of need (CON) in October to build the 56-bed Spring Hill Hospital, HCA didn’t waste much time. The company petitioned the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency (HSDA) at its Nov. 14 meeting to review Pogue’s order, and the agency agreed unanimously. Its members are set to decide on Feb. 27, 2008, whether Pogue’s order stands.

“The fact that they voted to take it up for review means that they will consider all the initial information in the record. Both parties also will be providing briefs in the next several weeks,” explained Tim Scarvey, vice president of development for TriStar Health System, which is HCA’s collection of hospitals in Tennessee and south central Kentucky. He called the Nov. 14 decision “good news for the people of Spring Hill,” and Leverette agreed, saying his citizens are “needing, expecting and wanting convenient, accessible, quality healthcare within their own community.”

Leverette acknowledged that he started all this about two years ago, when he approached HCA with the idea of a Spring Hill facility. “I reached out and did my job as mayor. They picked it up and ran with it from there,” he recalled. Tri-Star proposed a $112 million, full-service medical center on 91 acres at Kedron Road and Saturn Parkway. The hospital would offer a 24-hour emergency department with 13 beds, general surgery, intensive care, cardiology, obstetrics and pediatrics, outpatient surgery, cancer care, diagnostic imaging and a medical office building. HCA already owns the property, less than five miles from Interstate 65.

HCA filed a CON application on April 13 of this year, triggering a 90-day review process by the agency, which is responsible for regulating the growth of Tennessee’s healthcare industry. A CON is literally state permission to build or modify a healthcare institution, facility or service at a certain location. Purchase of major equipment also requires a CON. The idea is to promote orderly, efficient growth and prevent unnecessary duplication of expensive services.

In July, the HSDA approved the Spring Hill CON by a 7 to 1 vote, a decision that was opposed by an organization called Coalition4Care, spearheaded by Maury Regional Hospital. Coalition4Care included Maury Regional and Williamson Medical Center, both less than 15 miles north and south from Spring Hill; Saint Thomas Health Services; Hospital Alliance of Tennessee, an organization of not-for-profit hospitals; and several smaller providers in southern Middle Tennessee such as Marshall Medical Center, Wayne Medical Center and Lewis Ambulatory Care Center. Vanderbilt University Medical Center also voiced its support of the coalition’s mission.

Maury Regional and Williamson Medical Center then formally appealed the CON, forecasting that they would lose $40 million and $18 million respectively over the course of five years if the Spring Hill Hospital were built. The appeal prompted a full evidentiary hearing in front of Judge Pogue whose October ruling says, in part: “The CON process does not guarantee freedom from any competition, but it does require that new facilities be approved only if there is a genuine need. In recent years MRH [Maury Regional Hospital] and WMC [Williamson Medical Center] have made significant capital investments to serve the needs of their service areas, which include Spring Hill. Authorizing construction of a new hospital in Spring Hill before there is a sufficient population to support the need for such a facility would have a severe impact on [the existing hospitals].” He questioned population and hospital-use projections presented by HCA, and whether the new hospital could be profitable.

According to Jim Christoffersen, HSDA deputy general counsel, this was the first time an administrative law judge denied an approved CON in its entirety since the agency was founded in 2002. There were instances of denials with HSDA’s predecessor agency, he noted.

The HSDA vote to take another look at the issue in February was unanimous. Had the agency declined, Pogue’s order would have become final. Should either party appeal the agency’s decision next year, it would be heard in Chancery Court.

Scarvey said some preliminary ground work has already been done on the site, and HCA will commence construction of an access road in January. He said a hospital the size of the Spring Hill proposal takes about 12 months to design and 24 months to build.

Leverette said Spring Hill’s population, with many young families and seniors, “expects the amenities and the services that come along with a growing community. We are becoming a self-sufficient, stand-along community, where we’re not reliant on other communities to supply our needs and expectations. People are getting tired of traveling distances for services that they expect.”

Leverette noted that the HCA property “is about a 5-minute drive from just about anywhere in this community. Having that security certainly makes any mom or dad feel much better.” Then he added, “When we get 10,000 plus signatures on a petition that was initially submitted to the HSDA at the first hearing, that speaks volumes about the passion, the interest and the support. I’m optimistic that the CON will be upheld, and that there will be a hospital in Spring Hill somewhere down the road.”



December 2007

Tags:

None

Login and voice your opinion!