No certificate of need for new inpatient facilities or services shall be issued unless the Certificate of Need Review Board makes each of the following findings as required by state statute:

1. (a) that the proposed facility or service is consistent with the latest approved revision of the appropriate state plan effective at the time the application was received by the state agency;
2. (b) that less costly, more efficient or more appropriate alternatives to such inpatient service are not available, and that the development of such alternatives has been studied and found not practicable;
3. (c) that existing inpatient facilities providing inpatient services similar to those proposed are being used in an appropriate and efficient manner consistent with community demands for services;
4. (d) that in the case of new construction, alternatives to new construction (e.g., modernization and sharing arrangement) have been considered and have been implemented to the maximum extent practicable; and
5. (e) that patients will experience serious problems in obtaining inpatient care of the type proposed in the absence of the proposed new service.

Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §22-21-266.