(Lexington) May 3, 2006 - Lexington Medical Center's
bid for a new heart hospital is not dead yet. Governor
Sanford's decision to veto the plan has created a
political firestorm in Lexington.
If the medical center ever gets approval for a heart
center it would be located in the hospital's newest
wing, the North Tower.
Margaret Gregory of Lexington Medical Center explains
a heart center was part of the plan, "When this
expansion was completed there was shell space included
for two additional ORs in the hopes that we will
eventually move toward open heart surgery. So we do have
those plans in place."
But right now, those plans might be on life support.
Governor Mark Sanford is saying he would veto
legislation allowing Lexington and other counties to
have heart surgery centers by meeting certain criteria.
In a veto message issued late Wednesday afternoon,
the governor says the state "should either have a
certificate of need process and adhere to it or not have
one at all."
Lexington County lawmakers promised to try to put
together the two-thirds majority needed to override the
governor's veto.
The issue could come up in the General Assembly as
soon as Thursday.
Representative James Smith is a leading critic of the
Lexington Proposal and he thinks the legislature will
support the Governor, "I do think he'll be sustained. I
feel fairly confident the votes are there right now, but
it takes a lot of work to make sure that they're there
when the time comes to vote."
Lexington Representative Kenny Bingham, however, is
determined to make the new heart center a reality,
"We're going to do everything we possibly can. We'll go
to our colleagues and ask them for their help. They've
been good to us so far. They worked with us through
weeks of intense debate on the House floor, so once
again, we're going to ask them to help us override the
veto."
Even if the veto holds up, the Lexington Heart plan
still has a pulse. An administrative law judge is
considering the medical center's appeal of an earlier
state decision blocking the heart facility.
But if that ruling favors the medical center,
challenges from the area's other two heart centers could
keep the matter in the court system for years to come.
Reported by Jack
Kuenzie
Posted 8:00pm by Chantelle
Janelle
