Judge: Shands Jacksonville's expansion plan should be rejected

Citing potential negative economic impact on a competing hospital, an administrative law judge is recommending the state reject plans by Shands Jacksonville to build a new hospital on the city's Northside. Judge W. David Watkins of Tallahassee published a 60-page ruling Friday that calls plans by Shands for a new 100-bed satellite hospital near the Jacksonville International Airport and the River City Marketplace too costly for Memorial Hospital. Memorial challenged preliminary approval by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration in December 2011.