Minnesota Session Laws - 1990, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1990 

                        CHAPTER 500-S.F.No. 1698 
           An act relating to health; codifying existing law 
          restricting construction of new hospitals; repealing a 
          sunset; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
          Statutes, chapter 144; repealing Laws 1984, chapter 
          654, article 5, section 57, as amended.  
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:  
    Section 1.  [144.551] [HOSPITAL CONSTRUCTION MORATORIUM.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [RESTRICTED CONSTRUCTION OR MODIFICATION.] 
(a) Until July 1, 1993, the following construction or 
modification may not be commenced:  
    (1) any erection, building, alteration, reconstruction, 
modernization, improvement, extension, lease, or other 
acquisition by or on behalf of a hospital that increases the bed 
capacity of a hospital, relocates hospital beds from one 
physical facility, complex, or site to another, or otherwise 
results in an increase or redistribution of hospital beds within 
the state; and 
    (2) the establishment of a new hospital.  
    (b) This section does not apply to:  
    (1) construction or relocation within a county by a 
hospital, clinic, or other health care facility that is a 
national referral center engaged in substantial programs of 
patient care, medical research, and medical education meeting 
state and national needs that receives more than 40 percent of 
its patients from outside the state of Minnesota; 
    (2) a project for construction or modification for which a 
health care facility held an approved certificate of need on May 
1, 1984, regardless of the date of expiration of the 
certificate; 
    (3) a project for which a certificate of need was denied 
before the date of enactment of this section if a timely appeal 
results in an order reversing the denial; 
    (4) a project exempted from certificate of need 
requirements by Laws 1981, chapter 200, section 2; 
    (5) a project involving consolidation of pediatric 
specialty hospital services within the Minneapolis-St. Paul 
metropolitan area that would not result in a net increase in the 
number of pediatric specialty hospital beds among the hospitals 
being consolidated; 
    (6) a project involving the temporary relocation of 
pediatric-orthopedic hospital beds to an existing licensed 
hospital that will allow for the reconstruction of a new 
philanthropic, pediatric-orthopedic hospital on an existing site 
and that will not result in a net increase in the number of 
hospital beds.  Upon completion of the reconstruction, the 
licenses of both hospitals must be reinstated at the capacity 
that existed on each site before the relocation; 
    (7) the relocation or redistribution of hospital beds 
within a hospital building or identifiable complex of buildings 
provided the relocation or redistribution does not result in: 
(i) an increase in the overall bed capacity at that site; (ii) 
relocation of hospital beds from one physical site or complex to 
another; or (iii) redistribution of hospital beds within the 
state or a region of the state; 
    (8) relocation or redistribution of hospital beds within a 
hospital corporate system that involves the transfer of beds 
from a closed facility site or complex to an existing site or 
complex provided that:  (i) no more than 50 percent of the 
capacity of the closed facility is transferred; (ii) the 
capacity of the site or complex to which the beds are 
transferred does not increase by more than 50 percent; (iii) the 
beds are not transferred outside of a federal health systems 
agency boundary in place on July 1, 1983; and (iv) the 
relocation or redistribution does not involve the construction 
of a new hospital building; 
    (9) a construction project involving up to 35 new beds in a 
psychiatric hospital in Rice county that primarily serves 
adolescents and that receives more than 70 percent of its 
patients from outside the state of Minnesota; 
    (10) a project to replace a hospital or hospitals with a 
combined licensed capacity of 130 beds or less if:  (i) the new 
hospital site is located within five miles of the current site; 
and (ii) the total licensed capacity of the replacement 
hospital, either at the time of construction of the initial 
building or as the result of future expansion, will not exceed 
70 licensed hospital beds, or the combined licensed capacity of 
the hospitals, whichever is less; 
    (11) the relocation of licensed hospital beds from an 
existing state facility operated by the commissioner of human 
services to a new or existing facility, building, or complex 
operated by the commissioner of human services, or from one 
regional treatment center site to another; or 
    (12) the construction or relocation of hospital beds 
operated by a hospital having a statutory obligation to provide 
hospital and medical services for the indigent that does not 
result in a net increase in the number of hospital beds.  
    Subd. 2.  [EMERGENCY WAIVER.] The commissioner shall grant 
an emergency waiver from the provisions of this section if the 
need for the project is a result of fire, tornado, flood, storm 
damage, or other similar disaster, if adequate health care 
facilities are not available for the people who previously used 
the applicant facility, and if the request for an emergency 
waiver is limited in nature and scope only to those repairs 
necessitated by the natural disaster.  
    Subd. 3.  [ENFORCEMENT.] The district court in Ramsey 
county has jurisdiction to enjoin an alleged violation of 
subdivision 1.  At the request of the commissioner of health, 
the attorney general may bring an action to enjoin an alleged 
violation.  The commissioner of health shall not issue a license 
for any portion of a hospital in violation of subdivision 1.  No 
hospital in violation of subdivision 1 may apply for or receive 
public funds under chapters 245 to 256B, or from any other 
source.  
    Subd. 4.  [DEFINITIONS.] Except as indicated in this 
subdivision, the terms used in this section have the meanings 
given them under Minnesota Statutes 1982, sections 145.832 to 
145.845, and the rules adopted under those sections.  
    The term "hospital" has the meaning given it in section 
144.50.  
    Sec. 2.  [REPEALER.] 
    Laws 1984, chapter 654, article 5, section 57, as amended 
by Laws 1987, chapter 75, sections 1 and 2; Laws 1988, chapter 
689, article 2, section 238; and Laws 1989, chapter 282, article 
2, section 204, are repealed.  
    Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Sections 1 and 2 are effective July 1, 1990. 
    Presented to the governor April 24, 1990 
    Signed by the governor April 24, 1990, 10:00 p.m.