Cookeville-based Tennessee Heart plans to appeal the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission’s decision to deny the cardiology group a certificate of need for its proposed $11.8 million outpatient cardiac surgery center in Cookeville, a TN Heart spokesperson confirmed in an Oct. 2 email to Becker’s.
The commission voted 7-1 on Sept. 23 to deny the request. The vote followed hours of testimony that pitted the cardiology group against Cookeville Regional Medical Center over capacity in the hospital’s cath and electrophysiology labs, The Herald Citizen reported Oct. 2.
Germantown, Tenn.-based Stern Cardiovascular Center and Horsham, Pa.-based Atria Health Services of the South filed the request Aug. 3. The South Willow Avenue center would have had one cath lab, one operating room and one procedure room.
TN Heart argued that the 309-bed hospital’s cath and EP labs are over capacity and said procedures at its center would cost 58% less. “We are desperate for more opportunity to take care of these patients,” said Mark Wathen, MD, a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist at TN Heart. Lauren Gaffney, an attorney for TN Heart, said 85% of the procedures the group planned to move to the center have long wait times.
Travis Swearingen, an attorney for CRMC, acknowledged that the hospital had submitted miscoded data but said the corrected figures show no need for the project. CRMC Chief Nursing Officer Amy Rich said the hospital now has anesthesia in the EP lab four days a week for 10 hours a day, with those providers starting Aug. 31. Mr. Swearingen said this was the first CON the hospital has ever opposed, according to the publication.
Commissioners raised concerns about staffing. Andy Russell, MD, the commission’s physician representative and CMO of Williamson Health, said a community hospital that lost a third of its elective cardiology volume might have to close its pediatrics unit and cut other service lines. “Hope is not a strategy there,” Dr. Russell said.
Commissioner Tim Evans cast the only vote against denial. TN Heart has 15 days to appeal.
“Our commitment to the Upper Cumberland remains strong,” a TN Heart spokesperson said in a statement to Becker’s. “We’re focused on expanding access to high-quality cardiovascular care close to home and are optimistic about what we can accomplish together with our healthcare partners across the region. We’re grateful for the trust our patients and community place in us.”
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