Who’s Building A Fort Mill Hospital?

In May 2006 Piedmont Medical Center was awarded a certificate by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to build a 221,985-square-foot, 100 bed hospital called Fort Mill Medical Center on a 40-acre site at the corner of Hwy. 160 West and Hwy. 21.

So why hasn’t the hospital been built? Two?competing hospital firms, Piedmont and Carolinas HealthCare, have been fighting a never ending legal battle since 2006 to see who has the legal right to build and operate a hospital in Fort Mill.

Here is a recap of past Fort Mill Hospital events:

1. Approval was initially awarded to Piedmont Medical, but the decision was overturned in 2011, with Carolinas HealthCare granted permission to construct its proposed hospital.
2. In April 2014, that decision was reversed, with approval going to Piedmont for the second time. Carolinas HealthCare appealed that ruling, and an S.C. Administrative Court judge vacated the decision to consider the system’s appeal.
3. The court again ruled in Piedmont’s favor in December 2014, setting the stage for the latest legal skirmish.

The most recent event happened Friday February 20, 2015. SC Judge Phillip Lenski released his decision and denied Carolinas HealthCare System?s request to issue a stay in awarding a certificate of need to Piedmont Medical Center for a Fort Mill hospital.?Carolinas HealthCare System plans to appeal Judge Lenski’s Friday’s decision.

I have talked to a couple local doctors to seek their opinion on this on-going legal saga. Both had similar views. Carolina HealthCare’s business objective is to delay the building of a Fort Mill hospital as long as possible which helps funnel current patient needs to either CMC -Pineville or CMC-Steele Creek.

See our other posts on this topic:

TWO NEW HOSPITALS IN FORT MILL?

A NEW FORT MILL HOSPITAL?

DHEC DECIDES CAROLINAS MEDICAL CENTER IS FORT MILL?S NEW HOSPITAL

PIEDMONT MEDICAL WINS REVERSE COURT RULING FOR A FORT MILL HOSPITAL