Let the latest fight over new medical expansion in the Triangle begin.
This round will feature this region's health providers sparring over three operating rooms that state regulators have ruled will be needed in Wake County.
WakeMed, Rex Healthcare and Duke Raleigh Hospital all submitted applications Monday with the N.C. Certificate of Need office to meet a state deadline. Other bids are likely to filed by later today.
Every year, regulators review projected demand in each county and determine whether there will be a need for additional hospital beds, ORs and more. Then the state accepts bids, reviews applications and determines which project makes the best case based on need, cost and other factors.
WakeMed applied to spend $5.87 million to add the three ORs to its Cary hospital, which now has nine ORs. That facility serves a growing population in western Wake County and beyond, said Stan Taylor, WakeMed's vice president of corporate planning.
"It's an existing facility with a great deal of need and a strong track record of meeting the community's needs," Taylor said. "We're optimistic we'll be successful in winning these in a competitive fight."
Rex, meanwhile, announced last month it would apply to add two ORs to an outpatient facility under construction in Holly Springs, and another to its main campus in Raleigh. The OR at Rex's flagship hospital would be related to a larger expansion of its cancer services.
Duke Raleigh applied to add two ORs at its main hospital, as part of a broader expansion planned for the North Raleigh facility.
"This application is yet another step in executing a master plan that is necessary to transform our facility from one that was designed for light elective surgery at its inception in the 1970s to one that provides the people of Wake County sophisticated specialty and subspecialty care," said Duke Raleigh CEO Douglas Vinsel, in a prepared statement.
State regulators will take about six months to review the bids. The initial ruling will almost certainly be appealed by losing parties, setting up a long legal fight.
"It could be next year or later before we know who gets these ORs," Taylor said.
Assistant Business Editor Alan M. Wolf joined the N&O in 1999 covering the business of health care. He became an editor in 2001, and helps oversee the paper's daily business coverage and Sunday Work&Money section. He lives in Clayton with his wife and two children. Reach him at 919-829-4572 or
Comments
Let the market decide
Mon, 02/15/2010 - 22:39 — arums24423I cannot imagine what justification there can be for not allowing these facilities -- some of which are privately owned -- to build as many ORs and patient rooms as they think they can fill. Why do we need to put them through all the time and expense of a long application and appeals process? Let them all build as many as they want.
I will bet they spend as much on the application and appeals as it costs to build an OR. They almost certainly have a better feel for what they can fill than some bureaucrat. Our state government reeks with corruption at every level, so the decision is probably going to be made on the basis of a well-placed campaign contribution or bribe anyway.
If you believe it's in the public good to regulate the number of OR's, then please try to explain why that reasoning does not hold true for barber shops, or florists, or the drug stores that are on every corner these days.