Cincinnati-based Christ Hospital Health Network abandoned plans to build an ASC on the land of a former motel in Fort Mitchell, Ky., Nov. 26, Cincinnati.com reports.
What you should know:
1. Christ Hospital purchased the property in January 2015 and filed for a certificate of need for a 24,000-square-foot ASC in 2017. What followed was a debate between Fort Mitchell city government officials and hospital representatives from Christ and nearby competing health system St. Elizabeth Healthcare.
2. While Fort Mitchell officials supported the proposal, Edgewood, Ky.-based St. Elizabeth Healthcare objected to the CON application. St. Elizabeth has nine ASCs in northern Kentucky and argued Christ's ASC would replicate services and attract private insurance patients, costing St. Elizabeth revenue.
3. The Kentucky Office of Health Policy approved Christ's CON in 2017. St. Elizabeth sued and won, stopping development. Christ appealed the ruling but lost in August 2019. Since the failed appeal, Christ has been debating its next steps, which culminated in the health system abandoning the project Nov. 26.
4. Christ said it would now look to expand existing services in Fort Wright, Ky., and would examine other potential sites in northern Kentucky.
5. Mayor Jude Hehman said the city was surprised and disappointed, "but [understood] Christ Hospital's decision not to move forward."