Division of Administrative Hearings, Florida
Filed: Jul. 23, 2001
The issues in this case are whether a need exists for the establishment of one or more new adult open heart surgery (OHS) programs in Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) Planning District 9, and, if so, whether the Certificate of Need (CON) applications filed by Boca Raton Community Hospital, Inc. (Boca), Martin Memorial Medical Center, Inc. (Martin), and/or Bethesda Healthcare System, Inc. (Bethesda), in March 2001, meet the statutory and rule criteria to satisfy that need.Petitioners Boca and Martin proved that their applications for a certificate of need approval to establish a new open heart surgery program in District 9, on balance, satisfies the applicable statutory and Rule criteria. Recommend application approval.