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Lack of CON public hearing amounted to ‘agency error,’ Appeals Court concludes

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has determined that state regulators should have held a public hearing before awarding a disputed certificate of need in 2022 for a new hospital emergency department in Buncombe County. Yet Tuesday's unanimous unpublished decision from the state’s second-highest court stopped short of ruling that the lack of a public hearing would force the state to drop the CON.

CJ Staff
News

CON court filing criticizes NC health regulators, Duke

A medical imaging company has filed paperwork in North Carolina’s highest court criticizing state regulators and Duke Health for their legal strategy in a certificate-of-need dispute. Duke and the state Department of Health and Human Services challenge the state Court of Appeals’ September 2023 decision to affirm a CON ruling favoring Pinnacle Health Services. Pinnacle needed the CON to operate a magnetic resonance imaging scanner in Wake Forest.

CJ Staff
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Appeals Court to decide whether lack of public hearing could kill a CON

The outcome of a legal dispute over a new hospital emergency department in Buncombe County could depend on a state law requiring a public hearing. The state Appeals Court will decide in the months ahead whether the absence of a public hearing jeopardizes the certificate of need for a new Mission Health emergency department in Candler.

CJ Staff
News

Hendersonville hospital seeks to join CON court arguments

A Hendersonville hospital is asking the state Court of Appeals for permission to take part in upcoming arguments over a certificate-of-need dispute. The request follows the court’s recent decision to allow UNC Health to jump into the case.

CJ Staff
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UNC Health will take part in Appeals Court review of CON public hearings

Lawyers for UNC Health Care will explain their views about the state certificate-of-need law’s public hearing requirement on Feb. 20 at the state Appeals Court. The court issued an order Thursday giving UNC Health five minutes during oral arguments in the case Fletcher Hospital v. NC Department of Health and Human Services.

CJ Staff

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New Bern eye surgeon rebuts state’s CON defense in new court filing

A New Bern eye surgeon challenging North Carolina’s certificate-of-need law tackled the state’s arguments in defense of CON in a new court filing Monday. The state Supreme Court will consider the case in the months ahead.

CJ Staff
News

UNC Health asks to take part in Appeals Court case on CON public hearings

Lawyers for the UNC Health Care System hope to take part in oral arguments later this month in a certificate-of-need dispute at the state Appeals Court. The dispute does not involve any UNC Health facilities or equipment. Oral arguments are scheduled Feb. 22 in the case Fletcher Hospital Inc. v. NC Department of Health and Human Services.

CJ Staff
News

State lawyers urge NC Supreme Court to leave CON dispute to ‘democratic debate’

Lawyers from the state Department of Justice urge North Carolina’s highest court to reject a legal challenge to the state’s certificate-of-need law. The high court agreed last year to hear a New Bern eye surgeon’s lawsuit targeting CON restrictions.

CJ Staff
News

Locke backs New Bern eye surgeon’s fight against NC certificate-of-need restrictions

The John Locke Foundation is supporting a New Bern eye surgeon’s legal fight against state regulations that block him from performing procedures in his own building. The state Supreme Court has agreed to take up Dr. Jay Singleton’s case against North Carolina’s certificate-of-need law in the months ahead.

CJ Staff
News

Recent CON decisions threatened by absence of public hearings

A recent decision in a legal dispute from western North Carolina could shake up multiple cases involving state certificates of need. The decision prompted one of the state’s largest health care providers to file a friend-of-the-court brief Monday.

CJ Staff