When Hospital Juggernauts Collide »
I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but I just never could seem to find the time. Both Carolinas Healthcare and Presbyterian Healthcare have applied to the state of North Carolina for a Certificate of Need. What is that, you ask? I'm glad you did. The Certificate of Need - or CON for short (how's that for an appropriate acronym?) - comes from a state law that prohibits health-care providers from acquiring, replacing or adding to facilities and equipment without state approval.
At least, that's what I hear. Put in other terms, it means that hospitals can't be built unless the state says it's okay. It's like a giant game of Simon Says. Now I'm all for the protection of the innocent and everything, but come on now. According to that article I just referenced, it's going to take three years just to build a hospital. It's no small undertaking. Surely they aren't going to slap one up on every corner just because they can. Are they?
