Here we go again. State officials are preventing the building of a surgery center near Erwin. Why? Because the state of North Carolina believes it should have the authority to decide which health care services a community “needs” and which it doesn’t. It’s a ridiculous intervention by government. Yet, the state has the right to thwart a business plan due to what’s called the Certificate of Need process.
Jim Burgin, a Harnett County commissioner and member of the Good Hope Hospital board of trustees, said Wednesday that the state’s rejection of the surgery center was a political move that was damaging to the county.
Burgin said the surgery center would cost the county nothing. It also would bring 25 to 40 jobs to the community and generate about $3 million to $5 million for the local economy, he said.
Burgin said initial talks with the state about the surgery center were encouraging and that “everybody involved said it was a no-brainer.”
However, the state ultimately denied the request, saying, among other things, that it was “outside the scope” of the original certificate of need.
JLF Vice President for Research Roy Cordato has been calling for the repeal of the “CON” law for years. If a business wants to provide a legal service, then it should be up to the business to implement its plan and reap the rewards or suffer the consequences. The state has no business deciding which proposals constitute “needed” medical services and which do not, just as the state has no business deciding which shoe stores are “needed” and which are not. Customers making buying decisions in the marketplace make those decisions.
