Lexington hospital ordered to close heart units

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Lexington Medical Center has been ordered to shut down an open heart surgery unit and a catheterization lab it opened earlier this year when a long-standing state approval process was in limbo.

The State newspaper reported (http://bit.ly/1rvvvRz) Administrative Judge Ralph King Anderson III ruled this week the hospital needed a state-issued certificate of need for the facilities.

Anderson ruled on a complaint from Providence Hospital in Columbia. Lexington Medical Center has another open heart surgery unit and two catheterization labs that were approved under the state process earlier.

The state program was in limbo when Gov. Nikki Haley vetoed its funding. But the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in April only the General Assembly could end the program.

Lexington says it will comply with Anderson’s ruling. Another hearing is pending.

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Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com