In a potential escalation of the “hospital wars” that have recently roiled the Midlands region of South Carolina, Lexington Medical Center (LMC) has received permission from state regulators to construct a new “outpatient surgery center” in Richland county, South Carolina – part of a proposed expansion of its “LMC Northeast” practice.
According to “certificate of need” documents (.pdf) published by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) earlier this year, Lexington Medical Center has received approval to begin the “construction of a new ambulatory surgical facility with the transfer of three outpatient surgery suites at a total project cost of $19,894,166.”
The facility in question would located at 3016 Longtown Commons Drive – which is just north of Killian, S.C., in the heart of the growing northeastern Columbia, S.C. suburbs.
That property is owned by “Lexington Co. Health Services,” according to Richland county property records.
The request regarding this new facility was “approved” by SCDHEC on January 10, 2020. It is not immediately clear when construction will begin.
Two weeks later, though, SCDHEC “deemed accepted” a separate certificate of need request from Lexington Medical Center seeking to purchase a 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner for “a 1,518 square foot outpatient MRI services suite within a new 225,000 square foot medical office building at a total project cost of $1,907,721.”
A “Tesla” is the unit of measurement that refers to the strength of the magnet used in an MRI scanner.
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According to SCDHEC records, this purchase was “deemed complete” on February 28, 2020.
As our regular readers are well aware, this news outlet has been following the escalation of tensions between various Midlands hospitals in recent weeks – particularly the sparring between Lexington Medical Center and Prisma Health, which operates several hospitals in Richland county.
Is a new front opening in this battle?
Stay tuned …
-FITSNews
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