Vitruvian Health petitioning against new Cleveland Parkridge emergency room

CLEVELAND, Tenn. (WDEF)- A battle is brewing in Bradley County over a proposed new hospital.

Vitruvian Health, who operates the Bradley Medical Center, has posted a petition opposing Parkridge’s plans to open a freestanding emergency room in Cleveland.

They argue if the hospital is allowed to be built by a state commission, it would cause medical costs to increase in Cleveland and cause patients to be transferred to hospitals in Chattanooga, instead of the existing one in Cleveland.

They argue that this freestanding E.R. would not provide the necessary services that are needed.

Polk County resident Bill Moats said, “There has been over a quarter of $1 billion reinvested in these communities of Bradley and Polk County in a short amount of time that Bradley Medical Center has been present here in our community. They have already improved far beyond the previous system.”

We have reached out to Parkridge to hear their response to these concerns, but have not heard back.