(a)
The office shall exempt from Sections 127210 to 127275, inclusive, and shall issue a certificate of exemption for those projects that were not previously subject to review under Section 127155 prior to the effective date of this section where the applicant has shown and the office director has found all of the following:(1)
The applicant has, prior to the effective date of this section, committed or incurred a financial obligation, including any obligation payable by force account, that is certified by a licensed architect or engineer to be 10 percent of the cost of the total project, or seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000), whichever is less.(2)
The project cannot be terminated without substantial economic loss to the applicant.(3)
Except with respect to projects set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 127170, the project was commenced prior to the effective date of this section and is being diligently pursued to completion.(4)
The applicant has filed a notice of the project with the office on forms supplied by the office within 60 days of the effective date of this section. For the purposes of this subdivision, “project” shall mean any project set forth in Section 127170, and the term “financial obligation” shall include cost factors set forth in the definition of “capital expenditure” in Section 127170. Within 120 days of the effective date of this section, the office shall determine in public hearing the applications that are entitled to an exemption under this subdivision.(b)
In addition, the office shall exempt from Sections 127210 to 127275, inclusive, and shall issue a certificate of need for those projects where the applicant has shown and the office director has found one of the following:(1)
The project is necessary solely to replace health care services that are no longer available at the facility because of a disaster or other emergency.(2)
The project is solely for the purpose of complying with requirements of law or regulations.(3)
The project was the subject of an application submitted to an area health planning agency prior to the effective date of this section. These applications shall be processed and decided in the manner prescribed by this chapter as it existed immediately prior to the operative date of this section, except that any petition for appeal of a decision or lack of decision the area health planning agency rendered after the effective date of this section shall be made directly to the Advisory Health Council.(4)
The project is to add not more than 10 percent of licensed bed capacity or 10 beds, whichever is less, to an existing general acute care hospital, an existing acute psychiatric hospital, an existing special hospital, an existing general acute care/rehabilitating hospital, or an existing chemical dependency recovery hospital, where the applicant has shown and the office director has found that:(A)
The applicant hospital has not been granted a certificate of exemption pursuant to this provision or pursuant to Section 437.112, as Section 437.112 existed on January 1, 1982, within the last preceding 24 months.(B)
The applicant hospital has had an occupancy rate for the classification of beds to be added, and for the facility as a whole, for the preceding 12-month period, of not less than 85 percent.(C)
The facility is accessible to persons for whom the cost of care is reimbursed under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. In the case of an acute psychiatric hospital, the showing required by this subparagraph shall be limited to those categories of patients for whom acute psychiatric hospitals are eligible to receive reimbursement under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.(5)
The project is to add not more than five beds to an existing skilled nursing facility that is operated as a distinct part of a primary health service hospital, as defined in Section 1339.9 that participates in Medi-Cal programs, provided that all of the following conditions exist:(A)
At the time of the application, the Statewide Health Facility and Services Plan indicates a need for the proposed number of beds, taking into account the number of approved beds in the health facilities planning area where the project is located including beds approved pursuant to this subdivision.(B)
The applicant skilled nursing facility has had at least a 95 percent occupancy rate for existing beds for the 12 months preceding the submission of an application.(C)
The applicant facility has not been issued within the 12 months preceding application a citation for a class A violation or more than one class B violation, as defined in Section 1424, that is one of the following:(i)
Uncontested.(ii)
Contested, but not adjudicated. (iii) Contested, but sustained upon adjudication. In determining the current number of approved beds in the health facilities planning area where the project is located, the office shall count the number of beds for which applications for a certificate of need have been deemed complete pursuant to Section 127220, before the effective date of the amendments to this section enacted by the Statutes of 1983. The project shall not require a capital expenditure that exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000), and only one project may be approved for a facility in a 12-month period. However, no facility shall receive approval pursuant to this section for more than two projects. The office shall annually adjust this capital expenditure threshold to reflect changes in the cost of living as determined by the Department of Finance, using 1981 as the base year. Any certificate issued for projects shall expire if the applicant does not complete the project within 12 months after issuance unless the office, for good cause shown, extends the certificate.(c)
A certificate of exemption issued pursuant to this section or Section 1268 shall, for all purposes, have the same effect as a certificate of need issued pursuant to this chapter.
Source:
Section 127175, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=127175..