Thursday's Internet Edition, August 28, 2008.
Obstetrics Are Back In Davie Plans
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That’s a suggestion from Bermuda Run Mayor John Ferguson - as the state is receiving a third request from Baptist Medical Center to build a replacement facility for Davie County Hospital.
The state’s certificate of need (CON) section also received a second application from Forsyth Medical Center to build a hospital three miles away at Harper Road and I-40.
Sound familiar?
It is.
The state hospital licensing agency in February denied similar plans by Baptist and Forsyth, mainly because the proposals were “competing.” It is expected to rule later this month on Baptist’s second application.
Ferguson’s comments came during a brainstorming session hosted by county and Baptist officials in Mocksville. He said he could guarantee two bus loads to head to Raleigh to let the officials making the decision know that Davie residents want a hospital.
“That would make an impression. That would get their attention,” Ferguson said.
Most all at the meeting said it is hard to understand why the state won’t allow a replacement to Davie County Hospital to be built. Even though it would be located in Hillsdale, the hospital would be accessible to residents - and has support from residents across the county, said Donny Lambeth, Baptist interim president and chief operating officer.
“The logic of it is unbelievably straightforward ... yet there’s something political obstructing it,” said Don Yeager, a member of a committee trying to get approval of the new hospital.
Baptist officials said they’re doing everything possible to get a new hospital in Davie County. The first application included beds for obstetrics. The second did not. The third does.
“We’re playing by the rules,” said Lambeth. “I don’t see how in the world, if the state follows its rules, they can deny this application. Davie County is a growing county ... subscribe to the Davie County Enterprise Record, P.O. Box 99, Mocksville, N.C. 27028.