Jackson Health wins preliminary approval for new hospital in Doral

Florida healthcare regulators have granted preliminary approval to a proposal by Miami-Dade’s public hospital network, Jackson Health System, to build a 100-bed hospital for overnight patient admissions in the rapidly growing city of Doral, the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration announced on Friday.

AHCA denied a similar proposal for an 80-bed hospital in Doral from an affiliate of the investor-owned, for-profit Hospital Corporation of America, or HCA, without explanation.

In reaching the decision, AHCA officials wrote in a 76-page report that Jackson Health’s application “best satisfied the statutory criteria” for approving a new hospital in the West Miami-Dade city.

Under the state’s Certificate of Need program, new hospital applications are approved largely based on whether there’s enough patient demand to justify a facility. Gov. Rick Scott has suggested eliminating the program and allowing hospitals more freedom in where they are located.

Read more here.