Piedmont Hospital drops opposition to Gwinnett's open-heart surgery program

By Craig Schneider

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Piedmont Hospital dropped its lawsuit Wednesday to block Gwinnett Medical Center’s plan to perform open-heart surgery, but the plan still faces opposition from Emory University Hospital.

Piedmont and Emory have battled the Gwinnett proposal for almost two years, asserting that it would flood the metro market and dilute the quality of open-heart care.

Even after the state approved the plan, both hospitals, each of which performs open-heart surgeries, filed separate lawsuits weeks ago to overturn the state decision. Gwinnett proposes to start the first open-heart program in that county.

Piedmont spokeswoman Diana Lewis said the hospital stands by its negative opinions on the Gwinnett plan, but has undergone much criticism for its position.

“We have endured attacks on our motives and accusations that were just not true,” Lewis said.

Supporters of the Gwinnett project accused Piedmont and Emory of fighting the plan to stave off another competitor for open-heart services.

Emory spokesman Lance Skelly said that Emory is continuing with its legal challenge.

“A new program at Gwinnett Medical Center would erode the overall quality of other existing open-heart surgery programs — in part because hospitals need to perform a high number of these procedures to maintain quality,” he said.

Gwinnett Medical CEO Phil Wolfe commented, “While this is obviously good news for Gwinnett County and our hopes for an open-heart program here at Gwinnett Medical Center, the fact is that the Emory lawsuit remains in place, and the withdrawal of the Piedmont action may not do anything to reduce the time it will take to litigate this matter.”