DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709250533
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   35 lines

STATE VOTES TO INCLUDE DARE HOSPITAL IN MEDICAL PLAN

Dare County moved a step closer to having a small hospital Wednesday when a state panel voted to include it in North Carolina's 1998 medical facilities plan.

The North Carolina State Health Coordinating Council, which oversees medical facilities in the state, approved a subcommittee's recommendation for a facility of up to 30 beds on the Outer Banks.

The health care blueprint will now be sent to Gov. Jim Hunt for final approval.

If Hunt signs off on the plan, health care providers will apply for a certificate of need. If a certificate of need is granted, Dare County will get the hospital.

Dare County Board of Commissioners members Geneva Perry, chairman; Stan White, vice chairman; and Doug Langford and Joseph ``Mac'' Midgett attended Wednesday's meeting in Raleigh.

The Acute Care Committee denied earlier requests by Chesapeake General Hospital for additional ambulatory surgery and additional beds. The committee then recommended the acute care facility now included in the plan.

Donald S. Buckley, president of Chesapeake General Hospital, was also on hand at Wednesday's meeting. Chesapeake General runs the Outer Banks Medical Center in Nags Head.

``We have been privileged to provide health care to Dare county since 1984 and have long recognized the need for more comprehensive health and medical care for Dare County and surrounding areas,'' Buckley said. ``We plan to maintain a leadership role in this most important endeavor.''

Hunt is expected to act on the facilities plan before the end of the year. A schedule for certificate of need applications has not been determined.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu