Bowling Green’s health care environment may be in for a big change.

Greenview Hospital Inc. has applied with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services for a certificate of need to build a 72-bed acute care hospital along Lovers Lane.

The proposed new hospital, to be called TriStar Greenview Regional East Hospital, would be a $350 million, 238,405-square-foot facility located on a 30-acre tract adjacent to the Greenview Surgery Center and Graves Gilbert Clinic offices at 484 Golden Autumn Way, according to the application on file with the CHFS.

Its 72 beds would be transferred from the 211-bed Greenview hospital on Ashley Circle, meaning there would be no initial increase in the total number of beds.

The application said the new site would “provide all of the services required by law for an acute care hospital,” including a 24-hour emergency department and various surgical services.

A statement released by Greenview said: “TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital applied for a certificate of need to establish a split campus on Lovers Lane, adjacent to the Greenview Surgery Center, to serve Warren County. … TriStar Greenview plans to grow as our community grows. We remain committed to providing the highest-quality healthcare to residents of Warren County and the greater Bowling Green area.”

The application spells out its rationale for proposing the new facility.

“In order to meet the future demands and needs of the service area population as it grows and ages, Greenview must address a number of significant plant deficiencies at its current hospital,” the application said.

The application points out that the existing Greenview facility was built in 1972, making it difficult to meet current requirements for certain services.

“There have been numerous recent changes in code requirements for hospital pharmacy and lab operations that are difficult to meet within an outdated facility,” according to the application.

Expanding the existing hospital to conform to new guidelines for room sizes and to meet the expectation of all private rooms is not possible, the application said.

The application’s narrative indicates that expanding the existing hospital’s footprint is impossible “when a facility is landlocked and limited from expanding on an already-congested and landlocked campus.”

Cost constraints also play a role in the decision-making process for Greenview, a subsidiary of the Nashville-based for-profit company HCA Healthcare.

“The construction of a new hospital will … be less costly (and) construction can be accomplished more quickly and without interruption to … patient care,” the narrative said.

The proposed new hospital’s estimated total cost includes $30 million for site acquisition and engineering, $227 million for construction and $59 million for equipment. A project schedule included in the application calls for construction to start in June 2024 and for completion in 2027.

Greenview’s application indicates that staffing the new facility will be aided by the fact that both hospitals will be under the same ownership and management.

“Since the transfer of the 72 beds from the existing facility will reduce the number of trained and licensed personnel needed at the existing hospital, they will become available to provide services at the new facility,” the application states.

This isn’t the first time Greenview has applied to the CHFS for an expansion of its services in recent years.

Since 2018, Greenview has been attempting through its Southern Kentucky Ambulance Service affiliate to get state approval for a ground ambulance service to compete with Med Center Health’s Med Center EMS.

Last year, Greenview applied to establish a freestanding emergency department on the first floor of Graves Gilbert Clinic on Park Street, near the emergency department at The Medical Center of Bowling Green.

Both applications have met with resistance from Med Center Health, and both remain unresolved.

As with its ambulance application, Greenview is seeking a “nonsubstantive review” of its application for a new hospital, meaning the burden of proof for denying the application would fall on its competitors.

CHFS documents said the public notice date for the application to establish the 72-bed hospital is May 19 and the decision date is June 23.

– Follow business reporter Don Sergent on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdaily news.com.