Tanner Health System could soon be facing some competition as a new WellStar Hospital is being constructed in Paulding County and if Cancer Treatment Centers of America of the Southeast Inc. receives the go-ahead to build a new treatment center in Newnan.

While the hospital in Paulding County is going up in an under-served area, the treatment center is a mere 26 miles away from Tanner’s newly expanded Roy Richards Cancer Center, and that is cause for concern for the system.

Tanner has a primary care clinic in New Georgia, north of Villa Rica in Paulding County. It is also planning a clinic in west Paulding County near the intersection of Highway 101 and State Road 120. So, it does draw patients from that area, but the area is under-served so the addition of the hospital is not expected to significantly affect Tanner and its facilities in Paulding County.

“Anytime you know you have additional competition it’s certainly, in any business, it’s certainly something you pay close attention to,” Tanner Chief Executive Officer Loy Howard said. “We’re all as health care providers working pretty hard to serve that area.”

But the Coweta cancer treatment center is a different issue.

CTCA is currently waiting for a decision from the Division of Health Planning, Georgia Department of Community Health, on its certificate of need. The center applied for the certificate to build a $179 million treatment center on July 20 and the deadline for a decision is Dec. 21.

The department issues certificates of need to ensure that health care development throughout the state is done in an efficient manner. The review is to match health care services with need in an area and prevent duplication of services in an area.

The rules the department uses to determine whether there is need in an area are general – such as a cancer hospital must be within 25 miles of an airport with at least five runways or the number of beds in a rural or non-rural hospital. But when the application is reviewed the committee does take individual circumstances into account, said Marsha Hopkins, executive director of the Department of Community Health.

Still, Howard believes the CTCA is getting special treatment.

“One of the big issues we have is the way they came in the state,” Howard said. “They got special treatment by the Legislature.”

The Legislature passed a bill last year that would allow one-specialty cancer treatment hospitals to come into the state.

“The law that was passed allowed for a category of hospitals called destination cancer hospitals,” Hopkins confirmed. “That category did not exist before.”

The new category comes with its own rules that are not the same as those for a full-service hospital like Tanner Health System. Those differences could make for an uneven playing field when it comes to providing service for patients.

Additionally, the Cancer Treatment Center is a for-profit hospital, which could mean it won’t serve all patients, Howard said.

The rules for issuing a certificate of need require destination cancer treatment hospitals to provide indigent or charity care of at least 3 percent of its gross revenue.

Tanner, a not-for-profit health system, serves all patients – those who can pay and the indigent. On average, 7 percent of its care is indigent or charity care. This past fiscal year, that amounted to $28 million in care.

Tanner does have the option of appealing the department’s decision and opposing the project if it approves the certificate of need for CTCA. Howard said the system is evaluating all its options at this point. But even if the hospital does build in Newnan, he believes Tanner Health System will survive and prosper with the competition.

“We have been serving the community for many years, associated with our cancer program, along with out OB and our surgery program and other core programs to Tanner Health System,” Howard said. “We’re proud of our track record. We’re very proud of the physician team and the employee-staff team that takes care of cancer patients. So, we feel that we will be able to weather any challenge from somebody that is just a one-service provider.”