Opinion ID: 1784599
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: St. Dominic-Jackson Mem'l Hosp. v. Mississippi State Dep't of Health

Text: ¶ 14. In St. Dominic, Methodist Medical Center (MMC) filed a CON application for a primary care center known as the North Campus. St. Dominic, 728 So.2d at 82. At the time of the CON application, MMC had 474 licensed beds and operated 280 of those beds. Id. at 84. MMC wanted to utilize 64 of the remaining 196 unused licensed beds for the North Campus location. Id. The State Health Officer granted the CON and determined that the application was a relocation which was defined as the moving of authority to provide a service from one location to another. Id. The CON was granted under this definition even though there was no reduction in services at MMC's main campus. Id. ¶ 15. This Court refrained from reversing the case on whether the definition of a `relocation' was arbitrary or capricious. St. Dominic, 728 So.2d at 85. Instead, this Court found that the MSDH was within its authority to interpret the meaning of the word relocation. Id. at 84. However, this Court found that the real error that required reversal was that the MSDH applied a much reduced standard of need, the any specific advantage test. Id. at 85. This Court found that the need criteria must be commensurate to what the project actually is and the impact which it actually has on the Jackson health care market. Id. at 89. Further, the Court held that [n]o lesser showing of need will be required by this Court based on the notion that a relocation has taken place. Id. (emphasis added). Ultimately, this Court denied the CON application. Id. at 92.