Sec. 10.24.01.07. Application Required for Certificate of Need Review

A. Application Form.

(1) A proposed new health care facility or health maintenance organization, or an existing health care facility or health maintenance organization planning a change covered by these regulations or by State law, shall submit a formal application for Certificate of Need, in the form and manner prescribed by the Executive Director. The nature and extent of information required may vary according to the type or scope, or both, of the proposed project or services.

(2) The Commission publishes separately from these regulations the application forms to be used for various categories of projects, and these application forms may be revised periodically. However, an application is not complete unless the applicant has provided to the Commission all surveys required of the applicant by the Commission through regulation.

(3) An applicant may petition the Commission, showing good cause why a survey required by the Commission through regulation has not been provided. The Commission shall docket the application as complete if it determines that good cause has been shown and the application is otherwise complete.

B. Submission to the Commission. A formal application for a Certificate of Need, or any information provided by an applicant in support of an application in accordance with Regulations .08-.10 of this chapter, shall be submitted to the Commission's Health Facilities Coordination Office.

C. Letter of Intent.

(1) A prospective applicant for a Certificate of Need shall submit to the Health Facilities Coordination Office a brief letter of intent, with a copy to each local health department in the health planning region. The Health Facilities Coordination Office shall formally log all letters of intent, upon receipt.

(2) The letter of intent shall include the following information:

(a) The identity of each person on whose behalf the letter of intent is filed, including:

(i) The name and address of each such person; and

(ii) In the case of a letter of intent filed on behalf of a person that is not a natural person, the date the entity was formed, the business address of the entity, and the identity and percentage of ownership of all persons having an ownership interest of 5 percent or more in the entity;

(b) A description of the proposed project;

(c) The quantity and types of beds or health services involved; and

(d) The specific location and each jurisdiction in which services will be provided, according to the relevant planning region in the State Health Plan for that facility or service.

(3) Letters of intent are valid for 180 days. If, at the end of 180 days from receipt of the letter of intent by the Health Facilities Coordination Office, an application for Certificate of Need has not been filed, the letter of intent is void.

(4) Upon docketing of an application, the letter of intent for that project is no longer valid for purposes of comparative review, as set out in Regulations .08-.10 of this chapter.

(5) The letter of intent shall be received by the Health Facilities Coordination Office not less than 60 days before the submission for docketing of a Certificate of Need application for the project. An application submitted before either the scheduled date for the submission of applications under Regulation .08A of this chapter or 60 days from the receipt of the required letter of intent may, at the discretion of the Commission, be held in abeyance and not formally reviewed until the next applicable review period.

(6) A prospective applicant may request that the Executive Director waive the 60-day waiting period before an application may be submitted, as provided in §C(5) of this regulation.

(7) If a letter of intent is submitted for a proposed health care project which might be comparable to a project application which has been submitted but not yet docketed, the 60-day period may not be waived. If the project proposed in the letter of intent and the project proposed in the application are determined to be comparable by the Commission, the projects shall be given a comparative review.

(8) If an applicant requests that the 60-day period be waived, the applicant shall agree that if a subsequent letter of intent for a similar health care project is filed within the period of time between submission of the applicant's application and the end of the 60-day period described in §C(5) of this regulation, the docketing of the applicant's project shall be suspended, and the comparative review shall be triggered in accordance with Regulation .08A(2) of this chapter.

(9) If a person submits a letter of intent for a proposed health care project that might be comparable to an application which has already been docketed, the Commission may not grant a waiver of the 60-day period and a comparative review may not be conducted.

(10) Letters of intent are subject to public inspection during normal business hours.

D. The Applicant.

(1) If a proposed facility would require licensure after Certificate of Need approval, the applicant is the person or persons who will be the licensee as specified in Health-General Article, §19-318 et seq., Annotated Code of Maryland. A person may file a letter of intent and an application in the person's own name, and, before docketing, designate an alternate legal entity that the person owns or controls as the intended licensee.

(2) Health care facilities or health maintenance organizations participating in the health care project are identified as co-applicants.

(3) One or more persons shall be officially authorized to sign for and act for the applicant for the specific project.

E. Preapplication Conference. After the filing of a letter of intent or as scheduled under Regulation .08A(2) of this chapter, the Commission staff shall arrange to meet with each person who filed a letter of intent to discuss:

(1) Commission procedures for reviewing the application or applications;

(2) Information and data to be included in the application or applications;

(3) The State Health Plan requirements that may affect the project; and

(4) Other matters relevant to the filing and processing of the application or applications.

F. The discussions in §E of this regulation are informal, and statements at the meetings are not admissible as evidence at a Commission proceeding.