The Supreme Court of Georgia has clarified the standard of review that the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health must apply when reviewing a decision of a hearing officer on an application for a certificate of need, or CON, to establish a new health service at a hospital.

Rather than rule on whether former Commissioner Frank Berry’s reversal of a hearing officer’s denial of a CON had been supported by “competent substantial evidence,” the justices clarified that the meaning of the phrase in OCGA § 31-6-44(k)(1) “is most naturally and reasonably understood to mean substantial evidence that was admissible.”