Saturday's Internet Edition, May 17, 2008.
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Should Baptist/Davie be allowed to transfer Davie County Hospital’s 81 beds to a new facility at NC 801 and I-40 in Hillsdale? Or should Novant be allowed to transfer Medical Park Hospital’s 50 beds to a new facility at Harper Road and I-40 in Clemmons?
Either hospital must obtain a certificate of need from the N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation before building. The state has called the bids competitive, meaning that likely, only one would be approved.
The state will hold a public hearing Friday beginning at 11 a.m. at Cornerstone Christian Church, 1585 NC 801 N., between Farmington and Hillsdale.
Plans are to allow each hospital 30 minutes to outline their plans at the beginning of the meeting, said Martha J. Frisone, project analyst with the CON section. After a break for lunch, the public will be allowed to speak at about 1:30 p.m.
Each speaker will be given two minutes. Residents wishing to speak can sign up beginning at 8:30 a.m. It is not a requirement to sign up.
Medical Park Clemmons would include 50 beds for in-patients, six unlicensed beds for observation, five operating rooms, an emergency room and imaging services, including CT scanner, x-ray, nuclear medicine, mammography and ultrasound.
The Davie Hospital would include 43 beds for in-patients, two unlicensed beds for observation, 38 beds for long-term acute care patients, three operating rooms, one gastrointestinal endoscopy room, one procedure room, and emergency room and imaging services, including CT scanner, x-ray, mammography and ultrasound. Baptist also plans to offer maternity services.
The state will announce its decision on which hospital gets the CON by early March. But don’t expect construction to start that soon.
The decision can be appealed - all the way to the N.C. Court of Appeals. That process could take years to complete.
Donny Lambeth, interim president of Wake Forest University ... subscribe to the Davie County Enterprise Record, P.O. Box 99, Mocksville, N.C. 27028.