Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 65-15-4 - Exemption criteria4.1. A hospital licensed by the department of health and human resources otherwise subject to certificate of need review may obtain an exemption from review for the conversion of acute care beds to skilled nursing care beds if the hospital meets the following conditions:a. It is located in a non-metropolitan statistical area as defined by the bureau of the census of the federal government;b. It has experienced an average occupancy rate of less than fifty (50) percent for the twelve (12) months preceding the date of request for this exemption; and c. The nursing home service area within which the hospital is located is under the bed ceiling as calculated by the thirty (30) beds per thousand population formula as set forth in the long-term care chapter of the state health plan, except for the purposes of this rule existing nursing home beds shall be used in the calculation. In determining eligibility pursuant to this requirement, the Health Care Cost Review Authority will determine if the existing nursing home bed supply within the nursing home service area in which the hospital is located exceeds the five-year projected nursing home bed ceiling for that service area. Only licensed beds shall be counted in the nursing home bed supply.4.2. The hospital requesting the exemption pursuant to this rule must also meet the following requirements: a. In converting beds, the hospital must change one acute care bed into one skilled nursing care bed;b. All acute care beds converted shall be permanently deleted from the hospital's acute-care bed complement and the hospital may not thereafter add, by conversion or otherwise, acute-care beds to its bed complement without satisfying the requirements of subsection (d), section three, article two-d, chapter sixteen of the West Virginia Code for which purposes such an addition, whether by conversion or otherwise, shall be considered a substantial change to the bed capacity of the hospital notwithstanding the definition of that term found at subsection (ee), section two, article two-d, chapter sixteen of the West Virginia Code;c. The hospital shall meet all applicable federal and state licensing requirements for the provisions of skilled nursing services including a requirement that all skilled care beds created under this exemption shall be located in distinct-part, long-term care units;d. No hospital is permitted to convert more than twenty-five (25) percent of its licensed bed capacity in any twenty-four (24) month period pursuant to this exemption; however, in the event that subsection (h), section five, article two-d, chapter sixteen of the West Virginia Code is repealed and to the extent that other methods of converting acute care beds are available under article two-d, chapter sixteen of the West Virginia Code, the hospital may request certificate of need approval of such conversions; and e. The hospital may not seek to obtain certification of the skilled nursing beds converted from acute care beds pursuant to this rule as dually certified beds or intermediate care beds.