PORT TOWNSEND — The dispute over hospice care in Jefferson County is over.
The final result: No action will be taken, and Jefferson General Hospital and Assured Hospice will continue business as normal, hospital Administrator Vic Dirksen said Thursday.
Both provide Medicare-certified hospice care programs for people with terminal illnesses in the county.
State Administrative Health Law Judge John F. Kuntz dismissed a lawsuit against the state Department of Health this week.
But Dirksen said that in the dismissal, Kuntz was sending a message that the Department of Health should change the way it licenses care centers.
The agency needs to study whether multiple hospice providers can successfully exist in a single county, Dirksen said.
The state issued hospice care permits to both organizations, but Dirksen and the hospital board of commissioners argued that there is only room for one provider in the county.
Richard D. Block, Assured Hospice president, countered that the public hospital was trying to stamp out private competition.
The hospital took the state to court over the licenses.
Litigation cost around $60,000, Dirksen said Thursday.
Those are taxpayer dollars, Block emphasized this week.
