Two hospitals have joined in a lawsuit trying to block another hospital from competing for open-heart surgery patients.

Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville has been approved to perform the procedures.

But Atlanta’s Piedmont and Emory hospitals are suing saying Gwinnett residents already have good access to open heart surgery.

They argue hospitals need to perform a high number of procedures to maintain quality and another facility would reduce their patients.

Tags: patients, lawsuit, Piedmont, Emory, Gwinnett Medical Center, open-heart surgery