Palmyra Files CON to Provide Resident of Albany and Southwest Georgia Choice in Obstetrical Services
ALBANY, GA (August 15, 2008) - Palmyra Medical Center announced today it has filed a Certificate of Need (CON) application with the Department of Community Health (DCH) seeking approval to provide Level One Obstetrical Services to the people of Albany and southwest Georgia.
“We’ve been overwhelmed by the support we’ve received from patients, physicians, community leaders and others since we announced our desire to answer our community’s call for choice in obstetrics,” said Bud Wethington, CEO of Palmyra Medical Center. “We believe introducing competition and choice in this important healthcare service will improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare for area residents.”
Basic Level One Obstetrical Services would include basic inpatient care for pregnant women and newborns without complications, managing perinatal emergencies,
consulting with and referring to specialty and subspecialty hospitals, identifying high-risk pregnancies, providing follow-up care for new mothers and infants, and providing public/community education on perinatal health.
This is the fourth time Palmyra has sought to introduce competition in obstetrical services. The previous three applications were denied after heavy opposition from Phoebe Putney Hospital. Palmyra Medical Center last applied to provide obstetrical services in 2000. That application was denied after two years of appeals.
In a lawsuit filed against Phoebe Putney last month in federal court, Palmyra Medical Center said, “for many years (Phoebe Putney has) used their monopolies in obstetrics, neonatology, and cardiovascular care to foreclose competition in other hospital services” and “prevent commercially insured residents of Dougherty and the surrounding counties from being able to use Palmyra.”
“Our community deserves to have a choice in their healthcare services, and we ought to be allowed to compete and provide them a choice,” said Wethington. “That’s why we’ve notified Dougherty County and the City of Albany of our desire to compete to participate in their health plans. That’s why we’ve taken legal action against Phoebe Putney. And, that’s why we’ve applied to provide obstetrical services.”
“If there’s no opposition to the CON application, we believe we can be delivering babies in as soon as 12 months,” Wethington continued. “We look forward to meeting this vital healthcare need.”
About Palmyra Medical Center
Palmyra Medical Center is a 248-bed acute care hospital, serving southwest Georgia since 1971. With more than 400 employees and 200 on-staff physicians, the hospital’s caregivers treat nearly 70,000 patients and perform nearly 5,000 surgeries each year. Palmyra Medical Center provided approximately $15 million in charity and uncompensated care and uninsured discounts in 2007.
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