State officials have voted to allow a nearly 300-bed hospital to be built in northern Alabama.
The TimesDaily of Florence (http://bit.ly/14KN7fM) reports the Certificate of Need board voted unanimously Wednesday to allow RegionalCare Hospital Partners to build a 280-bed facility in Florence.
The facility is set to replace the Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital. Representatives from the Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield spoke out against RegionalCare's plan to build the new 280-bed facility, saying a hospital of that size could put Helen Keller out of business.
Helen Keller Hospital is about five miles away from Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence.
The board has voted to delay making a decision on a proposed RegionalCare cancer facility for 45 days.
---
Information from: TimesDaily, http://www.timesdaily.com/