Supreme Court rules against St. Dominic in hospital dispute

by Associated Press

Published: April 27,2012

Tags: bench, certificate of need, courts, health, health care, hospitals, judges, judicial, judiciary, lawsuit, medicalm construction, medicine

MADISON — St. Dominic Health Systems’ legal efforts to locate a medical facility in Madison failed yesterday before the Mississippi Supreme Court.

St. Dominic wanted to relocate 71 beds from its Jackson campus to a sprawling, $121 million Madison hospital that would include a huge public park.

In 2010, Chancery Judge Cynthia Brewer of Madison County ruled what St. Dominic proposed was not a relocation of beds but a new hospital. State health officials had earlier denied approval of the project.

Yesterday, Supreme Court Justice Leslie King said St. Dominic was attempting to build a mini version of its Jackson hospital. The court said the wide range of services St. Dominic planned to offer was evidence that the proposed project was a new, fully functioning, free-standing, general acute-care hospital.

“This case is a classic example of wants versus needs. St. Dominic wants to build a hospital in Madison County but, currently, the need does not exist,” King wrote.

It was St. Dominic’s third attempt to open a facility in Madison County.

St. Dominic’s proposal was opposed by Health Management Associates, owner of the Madison County Medical Center in Canton. HMA’s new hospital is located off Interstate 55 in Madison County.