GA Code § 31-7-405 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 31 - Health|Chapter 7 - Regulation and Construction of Hospitals and Other Health Care Facilities|Article 15 - Hospital Acquisition|§ 31-7-405. Public Hearing; Expert or Consultant Required to Testify; Testimony; Representative of Acquiring Entity to Testify

  Within 60 days after receipt of the notice under this article, the Attorney General shall conduct a public hearing regarding the proposed transaction in the county in which the main campus of the hospital is located. At such hearing, the Attorney General shall provide an opportunity for those persons in favor of the transaction, those persons opposed to the transaction, and other interested persons to be heard. The Attorney General shall also receive written comments regarding the transaction from any interested person, and such written comments shall be considered public records pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50.   Any expert or consultant retained by the nonprofit corporation to prepare the financial and economic analysis of the proposed transaction shall be required to appear and testify at the public hearing regarding his or her report if requested to do so by the Attorney General and may be questioned by the Attorney General. Such expert or consultant shall make the same disclosure required by members and officers under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b) of Code Section 31-7-403. The independent expert or consultant retained by the Attorney General to review the proposed transaction shall also appear and testify at the public hearing regarding his or her findings and analysis.   At least one member of the governing board of the seller or lessor shall be designated by the seller or lessor, and at least one representative of the acquiring entity shall be designated by the acquiring entity, which designees shall appear and testify under oath at the public hearing and shall be subject to questioning by the Attorney General.     (Code 1981, §31-7-405, enacted by Ga. L. 1997, p. 1091, § 1; Ga. L. 2012, p. 218, § 7/HB 397.)   Law reviews.   - For article on the 2012 amendment of this Code section, see 29 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 139 (2012).   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Notice and hearing requirements mandatory.    - Lease and transfer agreement of a hospital was invalid since the agreement was consummated before notice was given to the Attorney General and the holding of a public hearing. Sparks v. Hospital Auth., 241 Ga. App. 485, 526 S.E.2d 593 (1999).   Breach of contract.   - When a facilities owner did not sign an asset sale agreement, a hospital's breach of contract claim failed because, inter alia, the parties' letter of intent did not incorporate the terms of the asset sale agreement and made clear that those terms were provisional, there was no evidence that the parties agreed to be bound by the terms of the asset sale agreement and, by filing premerger notifications, the parties represented as true that the asset sale agreement would not become a binding, enforceable contract until signed by the parties, and that the letter of intent superseded any written or oral agreements that may have existed. St. Joseph Hosp., Augusta, Ga., Inc. v. Health Mgmt. Assocs., 705 F.3d 1289 (11th Cir. 2013).