COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 619

(By Senator Tucker)

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[Originating in the Committee on Health and Human Resources;

reported February 18, 2014.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-2D-5e, relating to creating an exemption to the certificate of need process for certain critical access hospitals in certain situations.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-2D-5e, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2D. CERTIFICATE OF NEED.

§16-2D-5e. Exception for reopened critical access hospitals.

    Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary and any rule issued by the state agency, a critical access hospital, designated by the state as a critical access hospital after meeting all federal eligibility criteria, previously licensed as a hospital and subsequently closed is not required to apply for or obtain a certificate of need if it reopens within ten years of its closure and may operate pursuant to the previous license issued to the critical access hospital prior to closure.