Cincinnati-based Christ Hospital continues "to explore how to bring more healthcare options to the residents of Northern Kentucky," a hospital spokesman told the Cincinnati Enquirer after a court rejected the provider's plans for an ASC.
Here are five details:
1. The court shut down Christ Hospital's certificate-of-need for a $23 million ASC in Fort Mitchell, Ky., June 20.
2. Covington, Ky.-based St. Elizabeth Healthcare challenged the CON, saying the facility would oversaturate the market.
3. Judge Thomas Wingate said in the ruling that Northern Kentucky "already has nine outpatient surgery facilities that are each less than 50 percent utilized, well under the 85 percent rule" required to prove a need for additional services.
4. "This duplication and proliferation necessarily impairs the cost efficiency of the health-care delivery system in the planning area," he said.
5. Fort Mitchell Mayor Jude Hehman said the city will "move forward with the existing plans of the mixed-use area while St. Elizabeth and Christ Hospital continue their litigation regarding healthcare issues."