Hospital alliance, Dougherty County looking at possible appeals of Lee hospital CON
Parties ask state whether they have legal standing to appeal Lee County Medical Center’s certificate of need
By Jennifer Parks
ALBANY — Dougherty County and the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals are looking into whether they have any legal standing to appeal the state’s approval certificate of need for Lee County Medical Center.
Robert Rozier, an attorney with the Atlanta law firm Baker & Hostetler, sent the request on behalf of Dougherty County in a letter Thursday to officials with the Georgia Department of Community Health. It asks for confirmation that the county lacks legal standing to appeal the decision.
“By this letter, Dougherty County requests confirmation under CON Appeal Panel Rule 274-1-.05 that Dougherty County lacks standing to appeal the Initial Decision under the (State Health Planning and Development) Act, and accordingly, has exhausted its administrative remedies before the CON Appeal Panel to challenge the Initial Decision,” Rozier writes.
Crisp Regional Hospital, the only opposing party known to have grounds to appeal, filed its appeal on Wednesday. The CON for the Lee hospital was approved Nov. 15, opening a 30-day window for appeals to be filed.
Rozier makes the case in the letter that the county is “aggrieved by the Initial Decision as evidenced by an independent report commissioned by Dougherty County finding that the Project would be detrimental to the existing health care delivery system in and around Dougherty County and will likely result in financial repercussions for Dougherty County and its citizens.”
Dougherty County Attorney Spencer Lee referred questions on the matter to Rozier. Rozier said that it is doubtful the county has standing to appeal to the DCH’s CON Appeal Panel, but is filing the request to make sure.
Rozier added that Dougherty is looking to see if it can appeal under the General Administrative Procedure Act.
“We are trying to test and see if they have a right to appeal,” he told The Albany Herald.
Rozier said that the appeal may be denied outright, or that the case could be referred to a hearing officer to determine if there is any legal standing. He said he anticipates it will be assigned to a hearing officer, adding that it may be a time frame ranging from a week to a month before an answer is given.
The GACH request was sent to the DCH by Kathy Butler Polvino, an attorney with KBP Law in Atlanta, making a similar request on Thursday to confirm whether the alliance lacks legal standing to appeal under the same rule. It also requests that the organization be able to intervene in the appeal filed by Crisp Regional and participate in the administrative hearing and, in the event Crisp does not pursue a hearing, requests an administrative appeal of the decision under CON Appeal Panel Rule 274-1-.03 “as an association representing competing health care facilities aggrieved by the Initial Decision who timely notified the Department of their opposition to the Project.”
Polvino makes the requests noting that the Health Planning and Development Act “does not expressly set forth a right to appeal or intervene in an appeal for an association whose member healthcare facilities are aggrieved by an initial Department Decision rendered under O.C.G.A. 31-6-43(i) and who opposed the project jointly via their association.”
Both letters were sent to Ellwood Oakley III, chair of the CON Appeal Panel, and Rachel King, executive director of the DCH Division of Health Planning.
The Albany Herald is expecting a return call from GACH CEO Monty Veazey, and has put in a call requesting comment from Lee County Commissioner Rick Muggridge.
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