ATLANTA - Some good news for Gwinnett Medical Center and its quest to perform open-heart surgery.<br />
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Piedmont Hospital has dropped its lawsuit against Gwinnett Medical.<br />
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A statement issued by Piedmont Wednesday says, in part, "While our reasons for pursuing appeal remain unchanged, today we've decided to accept the decisions made by the Department of Community Health and its Commissioner and withdraw our petition for judicial review in Fulton County Superior Court. We have endured attacks on our motives and accusations that were just not true. We still believe that a new program at Gwinnett Medical Center could erode the overall quality of existing open-heart surgery programs because hospitals need to perform a high number of these procedures to maintain quality. That's not just an opinion, but rather a scientifically proven fact that is accepted across the country."<br />
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The statement goes on to say "Standing up for quality patient care isn't always the popular thing to do, and it can draw criticism from people who have other agendas. In this situation, we stand behind the fact that we've done the right things for the right reasons. From the beginning, Piedmont has opposed this new program because of the impact on quality patient care -- no other reason."<br />
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Gwinnett Medical Center's plan still faces a court challenge from Emory University Hospital, which plans to go forward with its litigation.
