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Labor/Delivery at FCH in holding pattern

Southern Regional files appeal of state’s decision

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

A state agency’s decision to allow Fayette Community Hospital to deliver babies is being appealed by nearby Southern Regional Hospital in Riverdale, officials said.

In a best-case scenario, the appeal will almost certainly mean a delay for Fayette Community’s plans to begin offering the service in summer 2006.

Worst case, the hospital’s approval from the Georgia Department of Community Health could be reversed.

Fayette Community wants to create a seven-bed obstetrics unit with three labor, delivery and recovery suites in addition to caesarean section suites. The unit also would have two triage spaces for obstetrics patients, a nine-bassinet general care nursery and a five-bassinet specialty care nursery, otherwise known as a neonatal intensive care unit.

In its appeal letter, Southern Regional noted that Fayette Community’s planned service, combined with an additional 24 labor and delivery beds that have already been approved for Henry Medical Center, would “significantly impact (Southern Regional’s) obstetrical and women’s services.”

The letter also stated that Southern Regional is the primary source of perinatal care for Medicaid and indigent women and babies in the Southern Crescent.

FCH is one of two hospitals in the state which cannot deliver babies despite having a county population of more than 100,000, officials said. In 2002, more than 1,000 pregnant Fayette residents had to travel out-of-county to deliver their babies, hospital officials said.

A number of those patients went to Southern Regional, which opened a new Womens Center wing over three years ago to handle labor and delivery services.

“The need for OB services in Fayette County is obvious, and the state recognized that need and granted approval for Fayette Community Hospital to offer OB services,” said Darrell Cutts, CEO of Fayette Community Hospital.

“This appeal by Southern Regional could present a delay in the start of OB services here. We will work with community leaders, residents and physicians to encourage Southern Regional to drop its appeal so Fayette citizens will have access to OB services closer to home,” Cutts said.

The appeal from Southern Regional will be heard by a hearing officer, an attorney familiar with the state’s Certificate of Need approval process and who is not a state employee, said Julie Kerlin of the Georgia Department of Community Health.

A date for the hearing hasn’t been set yet, and there is no concrete time frame for the hearing officer to make a determination on the case, Kerlin added.

If either hospital is unhappy with the hearing officer’s decision, it could be appealed to the state’s Health Planning Review Board, an agency with members appointed by the governor, Kerlin said.

After that decision is rendered, either party could take the matter to court, starting in Superior Court with the possibility of reaching the Georgia Court of Appeals or the Georgia Supreme Court.

Some drawn-out cases have taken years for a final decision to be reached, Kerlin noted.

Under the labor and delivery plan, Fayette Community would not increase its total number of 100 beds if the labor and delivery service is ultimately allowed, officials said.

Fayette Community officials say offering labor and delivery at Fayette here will keep patients from having to leave the county for the service.

Earlier this year, Fayette Community was ranked one of the nation’s top 100 hospitals by an independent organization; the hospital hadn’t applied for the honor but it was selected for the award after the company conducted a review of hospitals across the country.

The hospital has a staff of more than 800 employees and a medical staff of nearly 350 physicians.