State Health Planning Agency v. Cribb Industries, Inc.State Health Planning Agency v. Cribb Industries, Inc.
Seeking to build a veterans’ nursing home in Pierce County, appellee-applicant originally applied in 1986 for a certificate of need. Appellant-State Health Planning Agency (Agency) denied the application and, on appeal to the State Health Planning Review Board (Review Board), the application was likewise denied. Appellee did not appeal the denial to the superior court, but, in 1987, it merely reapplied to the Agency. The agency denied appellee’s reapplication and the Review Board did likewise. From the denial of its reapplication, appellee did appeal to the superior court. The superior court reversed and ordered issuance of the certificate of need. The Agency applied to this court for a discretionary appeal and the instant appeal results from the grant of the Agency’s application.
1.
It is undisputed that appellee’s reapplication was received by the Agency on July 21, 1987 and that, in compliance with
The Review Board further found that, in compliance with
The evidence also authorized a finding by the Review Board that appellee had requested that this meeting with the Agency be delayed until the 88th day after July 31, 1987 and was told that such a delay would necessitate an extension of time to review the reapplication. Since appellee would otherwise have been required under
On the 81st day, appellee cancelled its request for the delayed meeting with the Agency. On the 89th day, however, the Agency gave appellee written notice that the 90-day time period was nevertheless being extended. The superior court found that the agency erred in extending the 90-day time limit after appellee had cancelled the meeting. However, the mere fact that, within the 90-day time period, appellee had cancelled the meeting would not necessarily serve to
re-trigger
the original 90-day time period for the Agency’s review. The Agency had been authorized to extend the time period because appellee’s
original
request for a delay until the 88th day had rendered a complete review within the 90-day time period impracticable. It is true that appellee had not been given written notice of an extension of time before it cancelled the meeting that it had requested be delayed until the 88th day. If, however, the meeting scheduled for the 88th day had been held rather than cancelled, the Agency would presumably have given appellee written notice of the extension of time at that meeting. By cancelling the meeting on the 81st day, appellee could not
unilaterally
establish that it was nevertheless practicable for the Agency to complete its review by the 90th day. Upon determining that it would not be practicable, the Agency was authorized to give appellee the written notice of an extension of time that presumably would otherwise have been given appellee had the meeting for the
The substantial evidence of record shows that, before the 90-day time limit had expired, the Agency gave appellee written notice of an extension of time. That extension was authorized pursuant to appellee’s original request for a delayed meeting with the Agency and was not obviated by appellee’s subsequent withdrawal of its request. Appellee was notified of the Agency’s final determination within the authorized extension of time. It follows that the superior court erred in reversing the Review Board’s finding that appellee had been afforded a timely review of its reapplication for a certificate of need.
2. Appellee’s original application for a certificate of need in 1986 had been denied on the basis of the “County Deficit Rule.” When appellee reapplied and instituted the instant proceedings, it did not submit any evidence to show that conditions had changed such that the “County Deficit Rule” would no longer authorize a denial of the application. Under these circumstances, the Review Board relied upon the principles of res judicata to deny appellee’s instant reapplication. Citing
There appears to be no bar to the Review Board’s initial consideration of the applicability of the principles of res judicata to appellee’s reapplication. Notwithstanding the scope of the proceedings before the Agency, “[t]he issue for decision by the [Review Board] shall be whether, and the [Review Board] shall order the issuance of a certificate of need if, in the
[Review Board’s]
judgment the application is consistent with the considerations as set forth in Code Section 31-6-42 and the . . . [A]gency’s rules, as the
[Review Board]
deems such considerations and rules applicable to review of the project.” (Emphasis supplied.)
In any event, it is undisputed that, in the context of the instant proceeding, appellee did not introduce evidence which was sufficient to show that its proposed facility would comport with the “County Deficit Rule.” Accordingly, regardless of the applicability of res judicata principles, the Review Board’s denial of appellee’s application
3. The superior court found that the denial of appellee’s application was violative of equal protection. “The basis for this [finding] ... is that the Review Board granted a certificate of need to another applicant in another place at another time. Though there are similarities between the areas . . . , there are dissimilarities recognized by the Review Board in its [prior] decision [, such as the public nature of the other nursing home and its limited service to Georgia residents only,] which render [appellee’s] equal protection argument meritless: [Appellee] is simply not in the same or similar circumstances as the previous applicant.”
Charter Medical-Fayette County v. Health Planning Agency,
4. The superior court erred in substituting its judgment for that of the Review Board and in ordering that a certificate of need be issued to appellee.
Judgment reversed.