What Is Certificate Of Need? Explaining A Likely Health Care Fight At The Gold Dome

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February 4th, 2019

Interests on both sides are gearing up for a fight when it comes to potentially changing Georgia’s Certificate of Need program. It’s the system the state uses to determine the need for new hospitals or clinic.

Matt Rourke / Associated Press file

This year, Georgia lawmakers and health care industry lobbyists will likely have many heated conversations about a complex issue that sounds pretty dull: certificate of need.

The Certificate of Need (CON) program is how the state of Georgia evaluates the need for new hospitals or clinics. Without a CON, hospitals or clinics can’t open their doors or expand.

“It is one of the most complex issues that they deal with down here under the Gold Dome,” said Ethan James, a lobbyist with the Georgia Hospital Association. The industry trade group represents most of the hospitals in the state.

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