Fla. court finds CON exemptions unconstitutional

Tenet Healthcare Corp., Santa Barbara, Calif., won its bid for an injunction against a new Florida law exempting open-heart programs at four hospitals from the certificate-of-need process. A Leon County (Fla.) Circuit Court judge struck down the law as unconstitutional because it only benefited local communities and there had been no referendum calling for the measure. The hospitals exempted under the law are Boca Raton (Fla.) Community Hospital; Bethesda Memorial Hospital, Boynton Beach; Martin Memorial Medical Center, Stuart; and Indian River Memorial Hospital, Vero Beach. Tenet sought the injunction on behalf of its Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach. -- by Patrick Reilly