3 SC hospitals ensnared in medical battle

In the latest jostling among area healthcare providers competing to take advantage of the area's demand and burgeoning elderly population, state regulators who once rejected plans put forward by Hilton Head Hospital will give them another look. On Thursday, the South Carolina health board directed agency staff to try to find a resolution with Hilton Head Health System over the agency's decision last month to block a proposed Bluffton outpatient center. Hilton Head Hospital wanted a hearing to appeal a Feb. 6 decision that rejected its certificate of need application. DHEC officials had said population data and projections failed to make the case for the facility.