Heart Surgery Unit Shut Down In Lexington

Lexington, SC (WOLO)-Lexington Medical Center has been ordered to shut down an open heart surgery unit and a catheterization lab it opened earlier this year. According to a hospital spokeswoman, a Columbia hospital filed a lawsuit asking that Lexington Medical Center not be allowed to use the new units. This week, a judge ruled that The Department Of Health And Environmental Control should not have granted LMC the licences, without having an approved certificate of need program for them. That program was suspended due to a lack of funding. In a statement, the hospital says quote: “Despite the closure of these two rooms, it‘s important to note that Lexington Medical Center‘s heart program continues to be operational. Heart surgeries and catheterizations will continue as they have for two years in our duke-affiliated program. The hospital says it will close units, by the end of the week.”