The question of who will provide health care services in Northwest Georgia is getting harder to answer.
On Feb. 26, the same day that CHI Memorial argued in an Atlanta courtroom that North Georgia would suffer if Erlanger Health System is allowed to open a surgery center in Ringgold, the two hospital systems each submitted certificate of need applications to provide radiation services for cancer patients in the area.
The former Hutcheson Medical Center ambulatory surgery center is located on Battlefield Parkway. CHI Memorial Hospital will purchase Cornerstone Medical Center in late December, CEO Larry Schumacher announced December 1, 2017. In addition, CHI Memorial will purchase the former Hutcheson Medical Center ambulatory surgery center, located on Battlefield Parkway in Ringgold. The center has been owned by Regions Bank since Hutcheson shut down. on December 1, 2017.Erlanger wants to build a new, free-standing, $9.2 million radiation service building in Ringgold next to its contested, proposed surgery center, and CHI Memorial - Georgia filed its own application to replace radiation therapy equipment in a building on Battlefield Parkway formerly owned by Hutcheson Medical Center.
Memorial purchased that building in November for $4.5 million and now wants to spend about $4.1 million to replace outdated equipment and make "the necessary investments for the local hospital to compete against the various providers that would offer only profitable service lines," according to the application.
The applications will be reviewed by the Georgia Department of Community Health, which will decide on June 25 if the services are needed in the community before either system can proceed with its plans.
Determining a need for radiation services in Catoosa County should be easy - the services were previously approved and existed under Hutcheson. But since that facility closed several years ago and the area was left void of services, patients have been forced to travel, often to Chattanooga, for treatment.
The difficulty for the state will be deciding the new, rightful provider of radiation therapy, as it's unlikely that there's enough need to support two separate facilities.
Memorial officials believe that right is already theirs, claiming they inherited the former owner's certificate of need during the acquisition and are "not seeking to establish any 'new' or 'expanded' radiation therapy service," according to the application.
"CHI Memorial – Georgia is filing this CON application in the current batching cycle out of an abundance of caution and in order to avoid any delays in replacing the radiation therapy equipment," the application states.
Erlanger's application claims that Memorial's facility lost its authorization when services lapsed: "Under the department's rules, the offering of a service that has not been offered in the last 12 months is a 'new institutional health service' requiring CON approval."
Both sides' arguments mirror the fight over the surgery centers that began in the fall.
Erlanger CEO Kevin Spiegel said on Thursday that the move "is not blocking others to provide care" but restoring needed services to the community and freeing up space at the Chattanooga facilities.
"I don't think one should tell another that he shouldn't provide care to patients," he said. "If others want to provide more services, we think that's great."
Erlanger filed its letter of intent, which comes before filing a certificate of need application, to expand radiation services into North Georgia on Jan. 29.
The move joins a slew of other pending Erlanger projects and came the week after the hospital system's board voted to construct a radiation oncology center at Erlanger East Hospital on Gunbarrel Road in Chattanooga. The budgeted cost for that project is $9.8 million, and it also is aimed at improving access to radiation services for North Georgia cancer patients.
Contact staff writer Elizabeth Fite at efite@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6673.