St. Joseph's should build Riverview hospital, judge says

SUN CITY CENTER -- St. Joseph's Hospital should be allowed to build a 90-bed satellite facility at Big Bend Road in Riverview, an administrative judge has ruled, thickening the plot in the ongoing drama and battle between hospitals to tap into the growing population in south Hillsborough County.

The order, released late Thursday, now puts the final decision in the hands of the Agency for Health Care Administration, which late last year ruled that competing HCA-owned South Bay Hospital should be allowed to relocate to Big Bend from its Sun City Center site.

The new ruling in favor of St. Joseph's stems from its appeal of AHCA's denial of its application in 2005. After that denial, South Bay and St. Joseph's both filed new applications to build a hospital at that coveted site.

South Bay last year won an initial approval by AHCA to relocate its Sun City Center hospital to Big Bend, leaving behind an emergency room and some other services. In light of this new order, South Bay's victory last year appears hollow. Sun City Center residents strongly opposed South Bay's move and favored competition from a new St. Joseph's facility.

In the order, Administrative Law Judge J.D. Parrish ruled that the growing population in south Hillsborough and the crowded conditions of nearby hospitals warranted an additional facility.

"We definitely think this is a big win for the community," said Lisa Patterson, spokeswoman for St. Joseph's Hospital. She said she thinks this order bodes well for St. Joseph's hearing in February on its appeal of AHCA's ruling last year in favor of South Bay.

Officials at South Bay said they were reviewing the order and did not yet know what their next steps will be.

"No matter what happens, we're still committed to Sun City Center and the South Shore area," said South Bay spokeswoman Melissa Morgan.

Saundra Amrhein, Times staff writer