Opinion ID: 1881155
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: facts

Text: ¶ 2. ROH filed two separate applications of CON with the Department. [1] The first application addressed ROH's need to renovate 27,300 square feet of the facility, including diagnostic imaging and cardiopulmonary services, and to construct an additional 162,000 square feet for a new emergency services department and additional medical office space. The second application requested an additional 90 acute care beds. ¶ 3. The Department deemed the expansion application complete and reviewed it during the January 2003 review cycle. The Department's Staff (Staff) requested additional information on the bed application. St. Dominic and Mississippi Baptist Medical Center (Baptist) filed written comments with the Department objecting to the bed application. The Staff issued a letter to ROH regarding whether it considered relocating some of its unused beds from Woman's Hospital. ROH issued letters in response to the comments. ¶ 4. The Staff issued findings that both CONs were in compliance with all applicable criteria, standards and goals of the Mississippi State Health Plan and the Mississippi Certificate of Need Review Manual (CON Review manual). The Department recommended that the total number of new beds be reduced from 90 to 57 and 33 beds relocated to ROH from Woman's. Baptist did not express any further comment or objection to ROH's applications. St. Dominic requested a public hearing on both applications. St. Dominic requested the two applications be consolidated at the administrative hearing. Hearing Officer David K. Scott granted the consolidation of the hearings. The hearing on the bed and expansion applications was held over the course of seven days. ROH presented twelve witnesses: two expert witnesses, five physicians and four members of ROH's administration. Harold Armstrong, Chief of Health Planning at the Department, testified in favor of both applications. St. Dominic presented a health planning expert. ¶ 5. Subsequence to the hearing, the Hearing Officer issued a findings of fact and conclusion of law and recommendation. The Hearing Officer recommended in his report that the facility expansion application and the bed addition application be approved. The Hearing Officer recommended the reduction to 81 acute care beds consisting of 48 new beds at ROH and 33 beds from Woman's relocated to ROH. ¶ 6. The State Health Officer, Dr. Brian W. Amy, concurred with the recommendation of the Hearing Officer. The State Health Officer entered a final order approving ROH's facility expansion application. In a separate order, the State Health Officer approved ROH's bed addition application with a reduction from 90 to 81 acute care beds, consisting of 48 new beds and 33 acute care beds relocated from Woman's to ROH. ¶ 7. Pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 41-7-201, St. Dominic appealed both final orders to the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi. Chancellor William H. Singletary was assigned the appeal regarding the bed application. He upheld the Department's decision and approval by reduction. [2] In his ruling, Chancellor Singletary stated: [I]t is the cumulative impact of all of the evidence, testimony, statistics and documentation offered by witnesses over the course of seven days that fully substantiates the award of 81 beds to River Oaks. . . [T]he decision of MSDH [Department] was not based upon a single statistic or assertion; the decision was a thoughtful and reasoned response to a voluminous amount of evidence. The decision was supported by substantial evidence and was not arbitrary or capricious. He found that ROH had sustained a 70 percent occupancy and established the need for 81 acute care beds. He further relied on evidence of ROH's current and projected occupancy levels, the consultant's recommendation and the growth of its ancillary services. ¶ 8. Chancellor Patricia D. Wise heard ROH's expansion application and concluded that this Department's approval of ROH's application should not be disturbed. She issued an opinion and order of the court which identified three basic components of the expansion application: (1) the relocation and expansion of the emergency department; (2) the renovation and expansion of the imaging department; and (3) the construction of a medical office building (MOB). She further relied on the growth of the ancillary departments substantiating the need for the first two components and the physicians' testimony for support of a need for the MOB. She concluded that there was more than substantial evidence to support the [Department's] Final Order, and that [t]he overwhelming weight of the evidence presented demonstrates the need for the proposed project. ¶ 9. St. Dominic now appeals both chancery court judgments to this Court. This Court consolidated both appeals for review. St. Dominic raises the following issues: I. Whether substantial evidence supported ROH's CON for the addition of 81 acute care beds and supported substantial compliance with the applicable criteria and standards in the Mississippi State Health Plan and the Mississippi Certificate of Need Review Manual. II. Whether substantial evidence supported ROH's CON for the renovation and expansion of its facility and supported substantial compliance with the applicable criteria and standards in the Mississippi State Health Plan and the Mississippi Certificate of Need Review Manual.