Columbia County hospital update

The following email was sent on Monday, September 21, to members of the GRU and GRHealth community by Shawn Vincent, vice president of Partnerships, International Healthcare and Strategic Affiliations

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to inform you that today the Superior Court of Georgia dismissed the lawsuit filed by Doctors Hospital challenging the validity of the Department of Community Health’s decision to grant a Certificate of Need to Georgia Regents Medical Center to build a 100-bed hospital in Columbia County.  Our plan includes the design of a state-of-the-art, high-touch, high-tech community hospital to meet the health and wellness needs of Columbia County and surrounding communities.

As you may recall, Doctors Hospital filed the lawsuit claiming that DCH acted outside its scope last November in granting the CON. In dismissing the case, the court said that Doctors had filed the suit prematurely since the administrative process at DCH has not concluded.

Today’s announcement is another positive step in our efforts in Columbia County.

We still await a final decision on the appeals filed to DCH by Doctors and University hospitals contesting the CON being awarded to us. Those hearings wrapped up in Atlanta in late June, and we hope to hear from DCH soon.

We remain confident in our efforts and in the Department of Community Health and its CON process.

While these hearings are time-consuming, they have given us additional opportunities to emphasize the unique attributes of our plan – including choosing Grovetown as the location and capitalizing on our expertise in trauma and medical education.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you again for your continued support. This entire process would not have been possible without our dedicated faculty and staff and the involvement of the community.

We will continue to keep you informed as we take the steps to move our Columbia County hospital project forward.

Sincerely,

Shawn P. Vincent, Sr.

Vice President of Partnerships, International Healthcare and Strategic Affiliations