Two small public hospitals are fighting tooth and nail to keep HCA out of their Tennessee service area. Williamson Medical Center and Maury Regional Medical Center have together spent over $60,000 in ads to fight HCA's certificate-of-need application for a 56-bed hospital in nearby Spring Hill. The money has gone for billboard advertising and to retain PR firms to help the effort. HCA has responded with a $44,000 marketing expenditure in support of the CON, including a color-brochure mailing and a free pancake breakfast. A preliminary review by the state health department, which issues CONs, says there's a surplus of 135 beds in Maury and Williamson counties, and that's slated to grow to 180 when Williamson Medical Center completes an expansion in 2007.
- read this article from Tennessean.com for more