Vermont § 9434 - Certificate of need; general rules

§ 9434. Certificate of need; general rules

• (a) A health care facility shall not develop or have developed on its behalf a new health
  care project without issuance of a certificate of need by the Board. For purposes
  of this subsection, a “new health care project” means any of the following: (1) The construction, development, purchase, renovation, or other establishment of a health
  care facility, or any capital expenditure by or on behalf of a health care facility,
  for which the capital cost exceeds $10,000,000.00. (2) A change from one licensing period to the next in the number of licensed beds of a
  health care facility through addition or conversion, or through relocation from one
  physical facility or site to another. (3) The offering of any home health service, or the transfer or conveyance of more than
  a 50 percent ownership interest in a health care facility other than a hospital or
  nursing home. (4) The purchase, lease, or other comparable arrangement of a single piece of diagnostic
  and therapeutic equipment for which the cost, or in the case of a donation the value,
  is in excess of $5,000,000.00. For purposes of this subdivision, the purchase or lease
  of one or more articles of diagnostic or therapeutic equipment that are necessarily
  interdependent in the performance of their ordinary functions or that would constitute
  any health care facility included under subdivision 9432(8)(B) of this title, as determined by the Board, shall be considered together in calculating the amount
  of an expenditure. The Board’s determination of functional interdependence of items
  of equipment under this subdivision shall have the effect of a final decision and
  is subject to appeal under section 9381 of this title. (5) The offering of a health care service or technology having an annual operating expense
  that exceeds $3,000,000.00 for either of the next two budgeted fiscal years, if the
  service or technology was not offered or employed, either on a fixed or a mobile basis,
  by the health care facility within the previous three fiscal years. (6) [Repealed.] (b) [Repealed.] (c) In the case of a project that requires a certificate of need under this section, expenditures
  for which are anticipated to be in excess of $50,000,000.00, the applicant first shall
  secure a conceptual development phase certificate of need, in accordance with the
  standards and procedures established in this subchapter, that permits the applicant
  to make expenditures for architectural services, engineering design services, or any
  other planning services, as defined by the Board, needed in connection with the project.
  Upon completion of the conceptual development phase of the project, and before offering
  or further developing the project, the applicant shall secure a final certificate
  of need in accordance with the standards and procedures established in this subchapter.
  Applicants shall not be subject to sanctions for failure to comply with the provisions
  of this subsection if such failure is solely the result of good faith reliance on
  verified project cost estimates issued by qualified persons, which cost estimates
  would have led a reasonable person to conclude the project was not anticipated to
  be in excess of $50,000,000.00 and therefore not subject to this subsection. The provisions
  of this subsection notwithstanding, expenditures may be made in preparation for obtaining
  a conceptual development phase certificate of need, which expenditures shall not exceed
  $10,000,000.00. (d) If the Board determines that a person required to obtain a certificate of need under
  this subchapter has separated a single project into components in order to avoid cost
  thresholds or other requirements under this subchapter, the person shall be required
  to submit an application for a certificate of need for the entire project, and the
  Board may proceed under section 9445 of this title. The Board’s determination under this subsection shall have the effect of a final
  decision and is subject to appeal under section 9381 of this title. (e) The Board may periodically adjust the monetary jurisdictional thresholds contained
  in this section. In doing so, the Board shall reflect the same categories of health
  care facilities, services, and programs recognized in this section. Any adjustment
  by the Board shall not exceed an amount calculated using the cumulative Consumer Price
  Index rate of inflation. (Added 1979, No. 65, § 1; amended 1985, No. 234 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1987, No. 96, § 21(b); 1989, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1991, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 38, eff. May 11, 1992; 1993, No. 30, § 17, eff. May 21, 1993; 1995, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 1995, No. 178 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 132a, 306; 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1997, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. April 29, 1998; 2003, No. 53, §§ 10, 26; 2003, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 14, eff. May 4, 2004; 2005, No. 57, § 4, eff. June 13, 2005; 2007, No. 27, § 7; 2009, No. 49, §§ 10, 10a; 2011, No. 171 (Adj. Sess.), § 16, eff. Jan. 1, 2013; 2017, No. 125 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2017, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 2019, No. 72, § E.329.1, eff. June 18, 2019; 2019, No. 72, § E.329.2, eff. July 1, 2020; 2025, No. 15, § 1, eff. May 13, 2025.)