Obtaining Certificate of Need for Nursing Home Beds

Our client:  Laconia Center Genesis HealthCare

Rath | Young health care attorneys recently helped Laconia Center Genesis, a nursing home located in Laconia, New Hampshire, to obtain a certificate of need (CON) for new nursing home beds.

This was a unique opportunity in New Hampshire, which has long had a moratorium on CONs for nursing homes.  When the moratorium temporarily expired at the end of 2006, the State's Health Services Planning & Review Board issued an RFA for 33 beds in Region 3 (Lakes Region).  Laconia Center filed an application for a CON for all 33 beds.  So did Laconia Center's competitor, Golden View Health Care Center.

After a hard fought battle involving several hearings and lasting more than a year, Rath | Young attorneys Lucy Hodder and Barbara Greenwood were instrumental in crafting a resolution between the two nursing homes, which involved splitting the 33 beds between the parties.  The joint proposal was approved by the Health Services Planning & Review Board on July 24, 2008, and certificates of need were issued.

As a result, Laconia Center Genesis will be able to build a new addition to its nursing home, with private rooms and state of the art facilities that will benefit all residents and make nursing home care more accessible for people living in the Lakes Region.