Eligible Applicants for a Certificate of Public Advantage: A rural hospital and any corporation, partnership, joint venture, or any other entity, all of whose principals are rural hospitals, may negotiate and enter into cooperative agreements with other such persons in the state, subject to receipt of a certificate of public advantage governing the agreement as provided in Senate Bill 2850, Mississippi Legislature, 2004 regular session.
1. Notwithstanding any law of this state to the contrary, parties to a cooperative agreement may apply to the state health officer for a certificate of public advantage and upon compliance with these regulations and all applicable statutory requirements, may be issued a certificate of public advantage.2. Each application for a certificate of public advantage shall be verified by an officer or authorized representative of the applicant. The application shall be in a form prescribed by the state health officer and shall set forth or be accompanied by the following: a. An executed written copy of the of the cooperative agreement and a description of the nature and scope of cooperation in agreement and any consideration passing to any party under the agreement, andb. Evidence that each of the parties to the cooperative agreement is a rural hospital or is a corporation, partnership, joint venture, or other entity all of whose principals are rural hospitals.c. Evidence that the cooperative agreement addresses one (1) or more of the benefits listed herein below in Rule 1.3.1.7. d. i-vi.3. Within thirty (30) days of receipt of an application for a certificate of public advantage, the department may request additional information as may be necessary to complete the application. a. The applicant has thirty (30) days from the date of the request for additional information to submit the additional information.b. If the applicant fails to submit the requested information within the thirty-day period, or any extension requested in writing and granted by the department, the application is deemed withdrawn.4. The submitted application must be accompanied by an application fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000.00).5. The department shall give notice of the application to members of the public who reside in the service areas of the applicant hospitals through newspapers of general circulation or public information channels.6. The department may hold a public hearing within thirty (30) days of giving public notice if requested by an affected person. Regulations regarding public hearings are found in Subchapter 7. The department shall grant or deny the application within sixty (60) days after receipt of a completed application or from the date of the public hearing, if one is held.7. The decision, along with any conditions of approval, will be in writing and will set forth the basis for the decision. A copy of the decision will be given to the applicant and any affected persons who request notification in writing.8. The department shall issue a certificate of public advantage if it determines that: a. Each of the parties to the cooperative agreement is a rural hospital or is a corporation, partnership, joint venture, or other entity all of whose principals are rural hospitals;b. The geographic service areas of the rural hospitals who are parties to the agreement do not overlap significantly as determined by review of the department's most recent four quarters of patient origin study data;c. The rural hospitals who are parties to the agreement are located in a rural area as defined in Section B., 8. of the regulations;d. The cooperative agreement is likely to result in one or more of the following benefits: i. Enhancement of the quality of hospital and hospital-related care provided to Mississippi citizens;ii. Preservation of hospital facilities and health care in rural areas;iii. Gains in the cost-efficiency of services provided by the hospitals involved;iv. Encouragement of cost-sharing among the hospitals involved; v. Improvements in the utilization of hospital resources and equipment; orvi. Avoidance or reduction of duplication of hospital resources or expenses, including administrative expenses.9. When issuing a certificate of public advantage, the department shall specify the terms under which the certificate is being issued, including the authorized participants and any conditions deemed appropriate by the department.10. Nothing in the rules and regulations governing the issuance of a certificate of public advantage to rural hospitals exempts the hospitals from compliance with the provisions of Section 41-7-171 et seq. concerning certificates of need.15 Miss. Code. R. 9-92-1.3.1
Miss. Code Ann. § 41-9-307