GA Code § 31-6-21 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 31 - Health|Chapter 6 - State Health Planning and Development|Article 2 - Organization|§ 31-6-21. Department of Community Health Functions and Powers

  The Department of Community Health, established under Chapter 2 of this title, is authorized to administer the certificate of need program established under this chapter and, within the appropriations made available to the department by the General Assembly of Georgia and consistently with the laws of the State of Georgia, a state health plan adopted by the board. The department shall provide, by rule, for procedures to administer its functions until otherwise provided by the board.   The functions of the department shall be:   To conduct the health planning activities of the state and to implement those parts of the state health plan which relate to the government of the state;   To prepare and revise a draft state health plan with recommendations from technical advisory committees;   To seek advice, at its discretion, from technical advisory committees in the performance by the department of its functions pursuant to this chapter;   To adopt, promulgate, and implement rules and regulations sufficient to administer the provisions of this chapter including the certificate of need program;   To define, by rule, the form, content, schedules, and procedures for submission of applications for certificates of need, other determinations, and periodic reports;   To establish time periods and procedures consistent with this chapter to hold hearings and to obtain the viewpoints of interested persons prior to issuance or denial of a certificate of need;   To provide, by rule, for such fees as may be necessary to cover the costs of hearing officers, preparing the record for appeals before such hearing officers and the Certificate of Need Appeal Panel of the decisions of the department, and other related administrative costs, which costs may include reasonable sharing between the department and the parties to appeal hearings;   To establish, by rule, need methodologies for new institutional health services and health care facilities. In developing such need methodologies, the department shall, at a minimum, consider the demographic characteristics of the population, the health status of the population, service use patterns, standards and trends, financial and geographic accessibility, and market economics. The department shall establish service-specific need methodologies and criteria for at least the following clinical health services: short stay hospital beds, adult therapeutic cardiac catheterization, adult open heart surgery, pediatric cardiac catheterization and open heart surgery, Level II and III perinatal services, freestanding birthing centers, psychiatric and substance abuse inpatient programs, skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities, home health agencies, and life plan community sheltered facilities;   To provide, by rule, for a reasonable and equitable fee schedule for certificate of need applications; provided, however, that a certificate of need application filed by or on behalf of a hospital in a rural county shall be exempt from any such fee;   To grant, deny, or revoke a certificate of need as applied for or as amended;   To perform powers and functions delegated by the Governor, which delegation may include the powers to carry out the duties and powers which have been delegated to the department under Section 1122 of the federal Social Security Act of 1935, as amended; and   Study the amount of uncompensated indigent and charity care provided by each type of health care facility, recommend requirements for the levels of uncompensated indigent and charity care required to be performed by each health care facility type and develop standardized reporting requirements for the department to accurately track the amount of uncompensated indigent and charity care provided by each health care facility.     The commissioner shall have the power to establish and abolish technical advisory committees as he or she deems necessary, in consultation with the board, to inform effective strategy development and execution.     (Code 1981, §31-6-21, enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 1566, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 31; Ga. L. 1985, p. 829, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 31; Ga. L. 1994, p. 684, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 296, §§ 6, 22; Ga. L. 2007, p. 173, § 2C/HB 429; Ga. L. 2008, p. 12, § 1-1/SB 433; Ga. L. 2009, p. 8, § 31/SB 46; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-8/HB 228; Ga. L. 2019, p. 148, § 1-3/HB 186; Ga. L. 2019, p. 945, § 2/HB 300.)    The 2019 amendments.  The first 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, added "with recommendations from technical advisory committees" at the end of paragraph (b)(2); substituted "technical advisory committees" for "the Health Strategies Council" in paragraph (b)(3); inserted ", other determinations," in paragraph (b)(5); inserted "care" near the end of the first sentence of paragraph (b)(8); added the proviso at the end of paragraph (b)(9); deleted "and" at the end of paragraph (b)(10); substituted "; and" for a period at the end of paragraph (b)(11); and added paragraph (b)(12) and subsection (c). The second 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, substituted "life plan" for "continuing care retirement" near the end of the last sentence of paragraph (b)(8).   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2008, p. 12, § 3-1/SB 433, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment to this Code section shall only apply to applications submitted on or after July 1, 2008.   U.S. Code.   - Section 1122 of the federal Social Security Act of 1935, as amended, referred to in paragraph (11), is codified as 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-1.   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Criteria used by Review Board.    - Review Board could use not only the considerations listed in O.C.G.A. § 31-6-42, but also Health Planning Agency standards and criteria interpreting those standards, to make a decision in the case before the board. North Fulton Community Hosp. v. State Health Planning & Dev. Agency, 168 Ga. App. 801, 310 S.E.2d 764 (1983).    Reversal of the agency and denial of a Certificate of Need (CON) was affirmed because the atypical barrier exception did not support the agency's grant of the CON as the agency's interpretation of the atypical barrier exception in the rule was inconsistent with the plain language of the rule, clearly erroneous, and prejudiced the substantial rights of the challenging hospitals who already provided the same services. ASMC, LLC v. Northside Hosp., Inc., 344 Ga. App. 576, 810 S.E.2d 663 (2018), cert. denied, 2018 Ga. LEXIS 610 (Ga. 2018).   Interpretation of statute exceeded department's authority.    - Department of Community Health's (DCH) decision to treat a hospital's comprehensive in-patient rehabilitation (CIPR) program as a healthcare facility that was being relocated under O.C.G.A. § 31-6-47(a)(24) violated the certificate of need statute and therefore exceeded DCH's authority under O.C.G.A. § 31-6-21. Dep't of Cmty. Health v. Emory Univ., 351 Ga. App. 257, 830 S.E.2d 628 (2019), cert. denied, No. S19C1532, 2020 Ga. LEXIS 157 (Ga. 2020).   Rule 272-2-.09(13) construed.    - Cardiac Surgery Rule, Rule 272-2-.09(13), promulgated pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 31-6-21, does not place a two-year moratorium on applications for adult cardiac surgery services and pediatric cardiac catheterization and surgical services, but merely requires that the applicant show need. Chatham County Hosp. Auth. & Mem. Medical Center, Inc. v. St. Joseph's Hosp., 178 Ga. App. 628, 344 S.E.2d 463 (1986).   Psychiatric rule exceeded rulemaking authority and was invalid.    - Hospital with a certificate of need (CON) for 49 inpatient beds and a CON for a 12-bed psychiatric program, which had redistributed some of its total beds as psychiatric/substance-abuse beds, was not required to obtain a CON for this redistribution because the list of health services in O.C.G.A. § 31-6-40(a) was exhaustive. To the extent Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-2-2-.26 purported to require a new CON for such a redistribution, the rule was invalid. Premier Health Care Invs., LLC v. UHS of Anchor, L.P., 310 Ga. 32, 849 S.E.2d 441 (2020).   Criteria met for general need for new hospital.    - In an action concerning the grant of a Certificate of Need, the appellant's challenge to the Georgia Department of Community Health's determination that a medical center met the general need requirements for a new hospital failed because the Department found a need for the proposed hospital based on rising population, general growth in the area, and increased emergency room usage at nearby hospitals. Doctors Hosp. of Augusta, LLC v. Dep't of Cmty. Health, 356 Ga. App. 428, 847 S.E.2d 614 (2020).    Cited in Ga. Dep't of Cmty. Health, Div. of Health Planning v. Gwinnett Hosp. Sys., 262 Ga. App. 879, 586 S.E.2d 762 (2003).