Lexington heart center gets vital legislative boost

House action overrules DHEC rejection, but Sanford still could veto project

From Staff and Wire Reports

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House action overrules DHEC rejection, but Sanford still could veto plan

The House approved a bill Thursday that trumps state health department regulators and allows a new heart surgery center at Lexington Medical Center, despite one legislator’s attempt to derail the bill.

The hospital announced plans for the cardiac unit — which would be Lexington County’s first — in 2004, but the state Department of Health and Environmental Control rejected the $5.6 million project. It said there was no need to add the facility because hospitals a few miles away in Richland County already offered cardiac services.

While challenges to the agency’s decision worked their way through appeals and the administrative law court, Lexington County legislators came up with a plan that would change the law and give the hospital authority to create a heart center.

The state Senate previously approved the legislation 21 to 14 in March.

“We’re just extremely pleased with all the efforts of the Lexington County legislative delegation,” Lexington Medical spokeswoman Margaret Gregory said.

But all this week, Rep. James Smith, D-Richland, tried to derail the Lexington legislators’ efforts in the House. He gave up that fight just before noon Thursday after losing dozens of floor votes. The House voted 55 to 43 to approve the legislation.

Smith said of the legislation that he hopes the governor “dispenses it with his veto pen.”

Smith said the legislation doesn’t pass muster because it makes a retroactive change in the law to benefit the hospital. It’s also added to a bill that has nothing to do with DHEC’s regulation of hospitals, Smith said.

Joel Grice, director of DHEC’s Bureau of Health Facilities and Services Development, said that the original decision he handed down against the heart center was correct.

“The department made the best health-planning decision,” Grice said. “Technology is changing. In the past, everybody needed open-heart (surgery), but today that is changing.”

Specifically, therapeutic cardiac catheterization, an alternative heart procedure, is making many heart surgeries unneeded, Grice said.

But the State Health Plan follows an American College of Cardiology guideline that prevents hospitals from offering therapeutic catheterizations unless those hospitals also can offer heart surgery, in case the alternate procedure goes wrong.

Lexington Medical Center’s heart-center plans were opposed by the competing Palmetto Health and Providence Hospital.

“We’re very disappointed that the House made the decision that they did,” Palmetto Health spokeswoman Judy Cotchett Smith said.

Providence Hospital spokeswoman Jeanna Moffett also voiced disappointment and said the legislation “is a perfect example of special-interest legislation that ... undermines the integrity of the health-planning process.”

However, supporters of Lexington Medical Center, including some heart doctors, have said putting a heart center in Lexington County is necessary to prevent deaths and disabilities caused by delays in heart care. Heart disease is South Carolina’s leading cause of death.

Now the legislation, which started out making changes to the administrative law court, is on its way to Gov. Mark Sanford’s desk.

Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer says no decision has been made on whether the governor will sign or veto the bill.

“It’s not something we’ve reviewed in detail yet,” Sawyer said.

Staff writer James D. McWilliams and The Associated Press contributed to this report.