Certificate of Need Resource Center

A Certificate of Need is approval by the Director of the Ohio Department of Health to conduct certain activities involving long-term care facilities and beds. The following activities require a Certificate of Need:

• Establishment of a new long-term care facility
• Replacement of an existing long-term care facility
• Renovation of or addition to a long-term care facility with a capital cost of $2 million or more, not including costs for equipment.
• Increase in long-term care bed capacity
• Relocation of long-term care beds from one site to another
• • Relocation of beds within the same county
  • Relocation of not more than 30 licensed nursing home beds from an existing nursing home to another existing nursing home located in a contiguous county
• Certain changes to a previously approved certificate of need
• Expenditure of more than 110% of the certificate of need approved amount

An application for Certificate of Need approval for these activities may be filed with the Ohio Department of Health at any time. The typical Certificate of Need review process for these activities generally takes up to six months, notwithstanding an objection.

In addition, the Director may accept for review from July 1, 2012 through July 31, 2012, Certificate of Need applications under a comparative review process to relocate beds from a county with too many beds to a county with too few beds pursuant to bed need formula results. The Statewide county long-term care bed supply map of Ohio identifies those counties that may participate in bed need formula relocations and the number of beds that may be approved for relocation. The comparative review process for applications filed pursuant to the bed need formula runs from July 1, 2012 through April 30, 2013, notwithstanding an objection.

Resources:

• Certificate of Need Application Form
• Certificate of Need review process
• Certificate of Need bed need formula comparative review process (for applications filed in July, 2012)
• Statewide County Long-Term Care Bed Supply Map (2012)
• State average purchase price by year for operating rights to long-term care beds (2008 - 2012)

Publications:

• Certificate of Need Laws Amended, Effective September 9, 2012 (10/09/2012)
  Discussion of House Bill 487 and changes to Ohio's Certificate of Need laws.
• Ohio Issues 2012 Long-Term Care Bed Need Calculation- Identifies Counties with Bed Need and Counties with Bed Excess (4/3/2012)
  The final and official results of Ohio's 2012 long-term care bed need calculation have been released by the Ohio Department of Health and are now publicly available.
• Ohio Revises One-Year Rule for Relocation of Long-Term Care Beds in Hospitals (2/8/2011)
  Effective February 1, 2011, Ohio Administrative Code rule 3701-12-23.2 no longer requires a long-term care or skilled nursing unit in a hospital to be operational or to have been closed for no more than one year prior to filing a Certificate of Need application for the relocation of the long-term care or skilled nursing unit beds.
• ODH Issues Proposed Changes to Ohio's "Health Care Facility" Rules (1/5/2011)
  On December 15, 2010, the Ohio Department of Health posted proposed changes to three (3) health care facility rules under Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 83.

For more information, contact Chris Kenney at 614-227-4865 or ckenney@QMCG.com.