The recent news story ("More hospital beds for western Wake," Oct 2) regarding state regulators approving the increase of hospital beds for Rex Healthcare and WakeMed made me stop and think.

I've known for years and have read many news stories that government approvals were required for various medical facility startups and expansions, but with all the current heavy emphasis on health care, something seemed wrong with this picture.

Although the article never identified the "state regulators," I found the North Carolina Division of Health Service Regulation website, which states that "we make certain that medical buildings are built only when there is a need for them."

Another statement regarding the Certificate of Need Program says, "The fundamental premise of the CON Law is that increasing health care costs may be controlled by governmental restrictions on the unnecessary duplication of medical facilities."

While I wholeheartedly agree that all medical facilities and practitioners should be strictly monitored, inspected and accredited to insure the safety and excellent care of patients, what about free enterprise?

It seems that restricting the number of facilities and limiting the availability of services only tends to keep the costs high. Giving consumers other options would create more competition which tends to bring prices down.

What am I not understanding here?

Betsy Wheeler

Fuquay-Varina