The Walker County Board of Commissioners submitted a second letter to the Georgia Department of Community Health in support of CHI Memorial’s proposal to replace its existing hospital serving northwest Georgia.
The Board prepared an initial letter last month as part of CHI Memorial’s application for a certificate of need to operate a 64 bed hospital on Battlefield Parkway in Ringgold. Since that initial letter, CHI Memorial’s proposal has received opposition from an out of state health care system on the basis that the new hospital will reduce access to care for Walker County residents.
Walker County Government strongly disagrees with this claim. The replacement hospital would be five miles from the current site in Fort Oglethorpe and any increase in drive times for Walker County residents will be negligible. In fact, some residents will actually save a couple of minutes driving to the replacement site, which already provides access to several hospital services and physician offices.
In addition, the antiquated hospital building in Fort Oglethorpe has a number of maintenance challenges and is not capable of providing the health care services the community deserves, said officials. When maintenance issues occur, residents are faced with the headache of cancelled appointments that have to be rescheduled or relocated.
The state will decide whether to grant CHI Memorial a certificate of need to build the new hospital on April 29.
Here is the letter:
Karesha Berkley Laing
Interim Executive Director,
Office of Health Planning
Georgia Department of Community Health
2 Peachtree Street, NW, Fifth Floor
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Re: CHI Memorial Hospital – Georgia, Inc. CON Application for Replacement Hospital
Dear Ms. Laing,
Attached is a letter signed by all representatives of the Walker County Board of Commissioners expressing our full support for CHI Memorial Hospital – Georgia, Inc.’s (CHI Georgia) proposal to replace its existing hospital serving northwest Georgia. Specifically, the existing, antiquated hospital building located at 100 Gross Crescent Circle, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia will be replaced with a new, state-of-the-art facility at 4710 Battlefield Parkway, Ringgold, Georgia.
Since preparing our initial letter of support, it has come to our attention that Parkridge Medical Center, Inc., a for-profit operator of two hospitals in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is opposing CHI Georgia’s replacement hospital project. The out-of-state health care entity claims, among other things, that: (1) the replacement hospital is not needed, and (2) moving the hospital five miles east would reduce “access to care” for Walker County patients. Parkridge does not speak for Walker County and it is inappropriate for an out-of-state business to advocate for what they think is best for our community.
Our local hospital building is too old and faced too many years of disrepair prior to being acquired by CHI Georgia. While we appreciate the improvements made to the building by CHI Georgia to enhance care delivery, we do not expect them to continue to make costly repairs to an old, insufficiently sized building. For example, CHI Georgia invested nearly a million dollars in a cardiac nuclear lab, only to be forced to close the lab for several days, cancel patient scans and reschedule appointments elsewhere after a large water pipe burst. The status quo of maintenance challenges with an aged building is not acceptable. The entire Tri-County area (Walker, Catoosa, and Dade Counties in northwest Georgia) deserves better health care.
Walker County strongly disagrees with Parkridge’s allegation that CHI Georgia “is abandoning its existing patient base and leaving Walker County…without a nearby provider” by moving a mere five miles east. The replacement site already serves our community, providing local access to hospital services (radiation therapy, outpatient surgery, and imaging) and numerous physician offices. Practically speaking, drive times for Walker County residents will remain the same or increase or decrease by mere minutes when the hospital moves. For many areas of Walker County, including LaFayette, the Fort Oglethorpe location and Battlefield Parkway location are equidistant. Other communities such as Rock Spring will save a couple of minutes driving to the replacement site. Any increase in drive times for Walker County patients are negligible, approximating four minutes or less. This hardly amounts to "abandoning" our community or "reducing access." In face, the Battlefield Parkway site is surrounded by retail and other commercial establishments often frequented by Walker County residents.
CHI Georgia recognizes the importance of improving healthcare delivery in northwest Georgia and is making the necessary investments. This much needed state-of-the-art hospital will consolidate physician and hospital services on an easy to navigate medical campus. The replacement hospital will attract needed primary care and specialists to northwest Georgia. Walker County residents should not be required to travel greater distances, often on congested roadways, to Chattanooga for hospital services.
Walker county also has experience with the great quality of medical service provided by CHI Georgia. They currently handle ambulance service for the entire county and provide clinic services for employees of Walker County and the city of LaFayette.
Parkridge's opposition is not about protecting the interests of Walker County's residents. Parkridge provides no services locally in Walker County and previously "abandoned" a primary care office that was located in Catoosa County and served Walker County.
Again, we urge the state of Georgia to approve this needed replacement hospital project, which will benefit all of northwest Georgia, including Walker County.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Walker County Board of Commissioners
Shannon Whitfield, Chairman
Robert Blakemore, District One
Mark Askew, District Two
Brian Hart, District Three
Robert Stultz, District Four