Georgia Code
Article 3 - Certificate of Need Program
§ 31-6-47. Exemptions From Chapter

(9.1) The purchase of a closing hospital or of a hospital that has been closed for no more than 12 months by a hospital in a contiguous county to repurpose the facility as a micro-hospital;
(10.1) Except as provided in paragraph (10) of this subsection, expenditures for the minor or major repair of a health care facility or a facility that is exempt from the requirements of this chapter, parts thereof or services provided or equipment used therein; or the replacement of equipment, including but not limited to CT scanners, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), and positron emission tomography/computed tomography previously approved for a certificate of need;
provided, however, that single specialty ambulatory surgical centers owned by physicians in the practice of ophthalmology shall not be required to comply with this subparagraph; and
Noncompliance with any condition of this paragraph shall result in a monetary penalty in the amount of the difference between the services which the center is required to provide and the amount actually provided and may be subject to revocation of its exemption status by the department for repeated failure to pay any fines or moneys due to the department or for repeated failure to produce data as required by Code Section 31-6-70 after notice to the exemption holder and a fair hearing pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the “Georgia Administrative Procedure Act.” The dollar amount specified in this paragraph shall be adjusted annually by an amount calculated by multiplying such dollar amount (as adjusted for the preceding year) by the annual percentage of change in the composite index of construction material prices, or its successor or appropriate replacement index, if any, published by the United States Department of Commerce for the preceding calendar year, commencing on July 1, 2009, and on each anniversary thereafter of publication of the index. The department shall immediately institute rule-making procedures to adopt such adjusted dollar amounts. In calculating the dollar amounts of a proposed project for purposes of this paragraph, the costs of all items subject to review by this chapter and items not subject to review by this chapter associated with and simultaneously developed or proposed with the project shall be counted, except for the expenditure or commitment of or incurring an obligation for the expenditure of funds to develop certificate of need applications, studies, reports, schematics, preliminary plans and specifications or working drawings, or to acquire sites;
Noncompliance with any condition of this paragraph shall result in a monetary penalty in the amount of the difference between the services which the center is required to provide and the amount actually provided and may be subject to revocation of its exemption status by the department for repeated failure to pay any fines or moneys due to the department or for repeated failure to produce data as required by Code Section 31-6-70 after notice to the exemption holder and a fair hearing pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the “Georgia Administrative Procedure Act.” The dollar amount specified in this paragraph shall be adjusted annually by an amount calculated by multiplying such dollar amount (as adjusted for the preceding year) by the annual percentage of change in the composite index of construction material prices, or its successor or appropriate replacement index, if any, published by the United States Department of Commerce for the preceding calendar year, commencing on July 1, 2009, and on each anniversary thereafter of publication of the index. The department shall immediately institute rule-making procedures to adopt such adjusted dollar amounts. In calculating the dollar amounts of a proposed project for purposes of this paragraph, the costs of all items subject to review by this chapter and items not subject to review by this chapter associated with and simultaneously developed or proposed with the project shall be counted, except for the expenditure or commitment of or incurring an obligation for the expenditure of funds to develop certificate of need applications, studies, reports, schematics, preliminary plans and specifications or working drawings, or to acquire sites;
The amount specified in this paragraph shall not include build-out costs, as defined by the department, but shall include all functionally related equipment, software, and any warranty and services contract costs for the first five years. The acquisition of one or more items of functionally related diagnostic or therapeutic equipment shall be considered as one project. The dollar amount specified in this paragraph and in paragraph (10) of this subsection shall be adjusted annually by an amount calculated by multiplying such dollar amounts (as adjusted for the preceding year) by the annual percentage of change in the consumer price index, or its successor or appropriate replacement index, if any, published by the United States Department of Labor for the preceding calendar year, commencing on July 1, 2010; and
History. Code 1981, § 31-6-47 , enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 1566, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 31; Ga. L. 1989, p. 393, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1419, § 2; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1871, § 8; Ga. L. 1999, p. 296, §§ 22, 24; Ga. L. 2008, p. 9, § 2/HB 967; Ga. L. 2008, p. 12, § 1-1/SB 433; Ga. L. 2009, p. 8, § 31/SB 46; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-24/HB 228; Ga. L. 2012, p. 337, § 1/SB 361; Ga. L. 2018, p. 132, § 5/HB 769; Ga. L. 2019, p. 148, § 1-10/HB 186; Ga. L. 2019, p. 945, § 3/HB 300; Ga. L. 2019, p. 1056, § 31/SB 52.
The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, added paragraph (a)(9.2); and inserted “, or micro-hospital” near the middle of paragraph (a)(24).
The 2019 amendments.
The first 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, substituted “42 U.S.C. Section” for “42 U.S.C. §” in paragraph (a)(5); substituted the present provisions of paragraph (a)(9) for the former provisions, which read: “Expenditures for the acquisition of existing health care facilities by stock or asset purchase, merger, consolidation, or other lawful means unless the facilities are owned or operated by or on behalf of a:
“(A) Political subdivision of this state;
“(B) Combination of such political subdivisions; or
“(C) Hospital authority, as defined in Article 4 of Chapter 7 of this title;”; deleted former paragraph (a)(9.1), which read: “Expenditures for the restructuring of or for the acquisition by stock or asset purchase, merger, consolidation, or other lawful means of an existing health care facility which is owned or operated by or on behalf of any entity described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (9) of this subsection only if such restructuring or acquisition is made by any entity described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (9) of this subsection;”; redesignated former paragraph (a)(9.2) as present paragraph (a)(9.1); inserted “, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), and positron emission tomography/computed tomography” near the end of paragraph (a)(10.1); in paragraph (a)(12), inserted “United States” and deleted “of the United States government,” preceding “calculated from the date”; substituted “such equipment” for “said equipment” in the middle of paragraph (a)(13); inserted “administrative office space; conference rooms; education facilities; lobbies; common spaces; clinical staff lounges and sleep areas; waiting rooms; bathrooms; cafeterias; hallways; engineering facilities; mechanical systems; roofs; grounds; signage; family meeting or lounge areas; other nonclinical physical plant renovations or upgrades that do not result in new or expanded clinical health services,” in paragraph (a)(16); inserted “that” near the beginning of the proviso following division (a)(18)(C)(ii) and in the proviso in subparagraph (a)(20)(E); deleted “and” at the end of paragraph (a)(25); substituted a semicolon for a period at the end of division (a)(26)(B)(iii); and added paragraphs (a)(27) through (a)(29). The second 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, in paragraph (17), substituted “life plan” for “continuing care retirement” throughout the paragraph. The third 2019 amendment, effective May 12, 2019, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, inserted “that” following “provided, however,” in the undesignated language at the end of subparagraph (a)(18)(C) and in subparagraph (a)(20)(E).
Code Commission notes.
The amendment of this Code section by Ga. L. 2008, p. 9, § 2/HB 967, irreconcilably conflicted with and was treated as superseded by Ga. L. 2008, p. 12, § 1-1/SB 433. See County of Butts v. Strahan, 151 Ga. 417 (1921).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2019, “continuing care retirement” was deleted near the end of paragraph (a)(17).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2008, p. 12, § 3-1/SB 433, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment to this Code section by that Act shall only apply to applications submitted on or after July 1, 2008.