Division of Administrative Hearings, Florida
Filed: Jan. 14, 2013
This proceeding initially involved certificate of need (CON) application number 10168 filed by Rockledge HMA, LLC, d/b/a Wuesthoff Medical Center -- Rockledge (Wuesthoff), wherein Wuesthoff sought to add a 14-bed Comprehensive Medical Rehabilitation (CMR) unit to its existing acute care hospital in Brevard County (District 7); and CON number 10169 filed by Osceola Regional Hospital, d/b/a Osceola Regional Medical Center (Osceola) wherein Osceola sought to add a 28-bed CMR unit to its existing acute care hospital in Osceola County (District 7). The CON Applications submitted by Wuesthoff and Osceola were comparatively reviewed with the application of Nemours Children’s Hospital (CON 10167) wherein Nemours sought to establish a new inpatient CMR unit in District 7. On December 7, 2012, the Agency for Health Care Administration (“AHCA”) preliminarily approved the CON application submitted by Nemours and denied all other co-batched applications. Each of the denied applicants filed a Petition for Formal Administrative Hearing to contest the denial of its application. The matters were consolidated into a single proceeding at DOAH. The denied applicants did not challenge the initial approval by AHCA of Nemours’ application, allowing the approval to stand without further proceedings. Wuesthoff and Osceola’s administrative proceedings were consolidated into a single case. At the final hearing, Wuesthoff and Osceola presented evidence and testimony to support the approval of their respective CON applications. An intervenor, HealthSouth of Sea Pines Limited Partnership, d/b/a HealthSouth of Sea Pines Rehabilitation Hospital (HealthSouth), presented evidence in opposition to the Wuesthoff CON application. HealthSouth did not oppose Osceola’s application. Subsequent to the final hearing, Wuesthoff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of its petition for formal administrative hearing. The voluntary dismissal rendered HealthSouth’s intervention moot. Wuesthoff’s proceeding was then severed from this previously consolidated matter. The issue remaining in this matter is whether the CON application filed by Osceola in AHCA District 7 satisfies, on balance, the applicable statutory and rule review criteria sufficiently to warrant approval and, if so, whether the application should be approved.Petitioner did not establish "not normal" circumstances warranting approval of a certificate of need for comprehensive medical rehabilitation beds.