Greenwood Leflore Hosp.v. MDOH
| Docket Number: | 2007-SA-00877-SCT Linked Case(s): 2007-SA-00877-SCT |
|
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-17-2008 Opinion Author: Dickinson, J. Holding: Affirmed |
|
| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Certificate of need - Substantial evidence Judge(s) Concurring: Smith, C.J., Waller and Diaz, P.JJ., Easley, Carlson, Graves, Randolph and Lamar, JJ. Procedural History: Admin or Agency Judgment Nature of the Case: CIVIL - STATE BOARDS AND AGENCIES |
|
| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 04-17-2007 Appealed from: Hinds County Chancery Court Judge: J. Dewayne Thomas Disposition: The Hinds County Chancery Court approved the Mississippi State Department of Health’s decision to award a certificate of need to Delta Regional Medical Center. Case Number: G-2007-38 T/1 |
|
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | GREENWOOD LEFLORE HOSPITAL,
GREENWOOD SPECIALTY HOSPITAL, L.L.C.
AND GREENWOOD SPECIALTY HOSPITAL II,
L.L.C. d/b/a GREENWOOD SPECIALTY
HOSPITAL |
Barry K. Cockrell |
|
|
| Appellee: | Mississippi State Department of Health and Delta Regional Medical Center | JEFFREY SCOTT MOORE, DONALD E. EICHER, III, DARRELL JAY SOLOMON | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
|
| Topic: | Certificate of need - Substantial evidence |
| Summary of the Facts: | Delta Regional Medical Center is a 405-bed, short-term, general acute care, non-profit hospital located in Greenville. DRMC’s main campus is licensed for 228 acute-care beds, and its west campus is currently licensed for 177 acute-care beds. DRMC filed an application with the Mississippi State Department of Health seeking a certificate of need, i.e., regulatory approval, to establish a forty-bed, long-term, acute-care hospital at its West Campus. DRMC proposed in its CON application to establish and operate a “hospital within a hospital” by contracting with Allegiance Health Management to lease the forty beds from DRMC and operate it. The MSDH’s Division of Health Planning and Resource Development recommended that the application be approved. Subsequently, Greenwood Specialty Hospital, Select Specialty Hospital-Jackson and Greenwood Leflore Hospital filed requests for a hearing during the course of review. The Hearing Officer found that DRMC provided substantial and credible evidence to fulfill the need criterion and recommended that the State Health Officer approve the application. The State Health Officer agreed and issued a Final Order, approving the application and granting the CON. GLH, GSH and Greenwood Specialty Hospital II, a successor-in-interest to GSH, appealed to chancery court which approved the Mississippi State Department of Health’s decision to award a certificate of need to Delta Regional Medical Center. GLH, GSH and Greenwood Specialty Hospital II appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The appellants argue that the chancellor erred in affirming MSDH’s approval of DRMC’s CON because there is no substantial evidence supporting the finding that DRMC met the twin requirements of 450 long-term, acute-care hospital admissions with an average length of stay of twenty-five days. DRMC presented three separate methodologies to prove the need for an LTACH in Greenville. Considering the entire data and the three methodologies, DRMC presented substantial evidence to satisfy the “need criterion.” Consequently, MSDH’s decision to award DRMC’s CON is affirmed. The appellants’ argument — that DRMC either presented data showing patients with medical conditions having potential for an LTACH admission (without taking into account the average length of stay), or patient data showing long lengths of stay of certain patient groups (without taking into account whether they were appropriate candidates for admission to an LTACH)— is erroneous. The chancellor recognized that the three methodologies employed by DRMC factor in both restorative-care admissions and average length of stay and was correct in finding that the average length of stay is “intrinsically embedded” in each of these three methodologies. The appellants also argue that reversal is required because new federal regulations have been issued since the chancery court’s order which impose a “hard limitation” on the percentage of patient referrals that an LTACH may receive from any one hospital and effectively cut the proposed number of patients DRMC will receive in half. The appellants are barred from raising this factual matter on appeal outside the record. |
Home | Terms of Use | About the JDP | Feedback | Using JDP | MC Law Library | Mississippi Supreme Court
