In two separate appeals, Northeast Georgia Medical Center “NGMC” and the Georgia Department of Community Health “DCH” challenge the decision of the Superior Court of Barrow County which reversed a final decision of the State Health Planning Review Board awarding a certificate of need “CON” to NGMC for a 100-bed hospital in southern Hall County. The Review Board had upheld and adopted a hearing officer’s findings of fact and conclusions of law entered after a formal hearing. The superior court ruled in favor of Winder HMA, Inc., d/b/a Barrow Regional Medical Center “Barrow Regional”, which had objected to issuance of the CON. We granted both applications for discretionary appeal and consolidated the cases for review. The primary issue on appeal is whether the superior court had a proper basis for reversing the agency’s final decision. Most of the facts are not in dispute and can be found in the hearing officer’s decision. NGMC operates two facilities in Gainesville, Hall County —the large main campus and the separate 96-bed Lanier Park facility. Both hospitals operate pursuant to a single Department of Human Resources “DHR” hospital license, and combined the two provide 557, CON-approved, acute care hospital beds. Barrow Regional is a 56-bed acute care hospital located in Winder, Barrow County, approximately 22 miles from NGMC’s Main Campus.
On November 15, 2006, NGMC filed an application with DCH thereby requesting a CON for a new 100-bed hospital to be located in southern Hall County “South Hall Hospital”, approximately 11 miles from Barrow Regional. In its application, NGMC proposed “to construct a hospital facility to replace its Lanier Park campus acute care facility through the construction of a 100-bed hospital in South Hall County. . . . This project will not add any new services or change NGMC’s approved bed capacity of 557 beds.” NGMC applied under rules governing a “replacement or expanded hospital” as opposed to a “new hospital” under the DCH regulation known as the Hospital Bed Rule. See Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 1112-2-.20 3 b 1 & 3.1 Importantly, the categories “new” and “replacement” require different calculations to determine the need for a facility. Id. Following requested supplementation, DCH deemed the application complete on December 29, 2006.
