Lawsuit filed over process of approving new health care facilities

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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The Winston-Salem Journal has the story:

The N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state law that determines the awarding of health-care facilities and equipment.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Wake County Superior Court.

The lawsuit was filed on the behalf of Hope — A Women’s Cancer Center PA of Asheville and Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic PA of Raleigh. The institute has been joined in the lawsuit by the law firm of Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough LLP.

The lawsuit targets North Carolina’s requirement that medical providers obtain state permission, under the Certificate of Need law, before being allowed to compete in certain health-care markets.

The board that establishes the state Medical Facilities Plan each year is made up of health-care professionals, some of whom are employed as officers or directors at hospitals or other health-care providers that could provide the same services being requested.

That plan sets the annual health-care facilities and equipment needs for regions of the state.
“This issue not only affects the ability of health-care providers to offer new services, but it affects the health-care choices of North Carolinians,” said Jason Kay, a senior staff attorney for the institute. “Our focus is on the narrow process that puts together the state Medical Facilities Plan.”