FL: first application for CON denied: 'conditions changed'-second application granted.(Hospital Law Decisions of Note)(Certifica

CASE FACTS: In 2003, Bethesda Health Care System, Inc., d/b/a West Boynton Community Hospital (Bethesda), a nonprofit corporation operating a local healthcare system in the "Boynton Area" of South Palm Beach County, filed an application for a Certificate of Need (CON) to move 80 beds from an existing hospital to a satellite hospital in "West Boynton located within the same subdistrict. Although the application was initially approved, it, along with the application of another hospital, Delray Medical Center were denied. On March 16, 2005, during the first "hospital beds and facilities" batching cycle of 2005, Bethesda filed Application for a CON. On June 17, 2005 the regulatory agency issued a preliminary approval of the application. Several hospitals challenged the preliminary approval. The challenges were consolidated. Thereafter, Delray filed a motion for a summary order denying Bethesda's application for a CON. The trial judge denied Delray's motion. Those in opposition to the granting of the CON to Bethesda appealed, contending that the application was barred by 'res judicata' or 'administrative finality.'

COURT'S OPINION: The District Court of Appeal of Florida affirmed the order of the trial court granting Bethesda's application for a CON. The court held, inter alia, that The Florida Supreme Court recognized that the legal principles of res judicata do not "neatly fit within the scope of administrative proceedings," so that the doctrine is applied with "great caution." The court disagreed with the contention that Bethesda's second application should have been summarily denied based on administrative finality. The court found that, in fact, competent and substantial evidence at the administrative hearing supported the administrative law judge's conclusion that there had been substantial changes in material circumstances during the time that passed between Bethesda's two applications. First, because of the repeal of a crucial administrative rule, the legal framework for the second application was different than the one that applied during the time of the first application. Second, the administrative law judge made numerous factual findings supporting the conclusion that there had been significant changes in circumstances between the two applications. Among them, without limitation thereto, were the fact that there was a significant increase in the population in the area as well as increasingly unpredictable traffic congestion throughout Palm Beach County, due in large part to rapid population growth and planned traffic signal installations along major arterial roadways. Delray Medical Center, Inc. v. State of Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration, 2009-FL-0129.814 (1/28/ 2009)--FL

A. David Tammelleo JD Editor & Publisher

Meet the Editor & Publisher: A. David Tammelleo, JD, is a nationally recognized authority on health care law Practicing law for over 40 years, he concentrates in health care law with the Rhode Island firm of A. David Tammelleo & Associates. He has presented seminars oil medical, nursing and hospital law throughout the United States. In addition to his writings as Editor of Medical Law's, Nursing Law's & Hospital Law's Regan Reports, his legal articles have been published in the most prestigious health law journals. A prolific writer, his thousands of articles, as well as his achievements as an attorney and lecturer, have won him recognition ill Martindale-Hubbell's Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. Marquis Who's Who in American Law. Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.

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