Department of Health v. Omaha Associates, 232 Neb. 516

Summary

The Supreme Court of Nebraska reviewed the approval of a certificate of need for the purchase and lease of an existing nursing home facility. The court held that the proposed project satisfied the applicable criteria concerning cost increases, financial feasibility, quality of care, and competition, and affirmed the district court's judgment upholding the certificate of need.

Holdings

1. When the need for an existing health-care facility is undisputed and a willing buyer and willing seller have agreed on a price, Neb. Admin. Code tit. 182, ch. 2, § 005.02A2 is not a relevant review criterion for the certificate-of-need application.
2. The Department, as the party appealing the grant of a certificate of need, bore the burden of proving that the appellees failed to satisfy the applicable criteria.
3. The appellees satisfied the applicable criteria concerning cost increases, financial feasibility, continuity and quality of care, and competition.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the CON appeal panel exceeded its statutory authority or jurisdiction in granting the certificate of need.
2. Whether the appeal panel's decision was unsupported by appropriate evidence, contrary to law, or arbitrary and capricious.
3. Whether the alternatives criterion in Neb. Admin. Code tit. 182, ch. 2, § 005.02A2 applied to the purchase of an existing nursing home.
4. Whether the appellees satisfied the applicable certificate-of-need criteria concerning cost increases, financial feasibility, continuity and quality of care, and competition.

Disposition

affirmed