Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based Grand Strand Medical Center has asked a state court to block a rival health system's plans for a $15.3 million ASC in Carolina Forest, where the hospital says it is a major medical provider, The Post and Courier reported Feb. 25.
State regulators in 2020 approved Florence, S.C.-based McLeod Health's plans for the surgery center, which will comprise four operating rooms and two endoscopy facilities. A 48-bed hospital has also been approved for the site.
Grand Strand Medical Center calculates that Parkway Surgery Center — which is five miles from the proposed ASC — could lose 40 percent of its patients if McLeod's center moves forward.
The hospital also argued against McLeod opening the surgery center in an area where it "historically had little presence" and suggested moving the facility to Northern Horry County, which is closer to McLeod Loris and McLeod Seacoast hospitals and would expand access to care for the health system's "current patient base," according to the report.