2004 Minnesota Statutes

     144.551 Hospital construction moratorium. 

    Subdivision 1.    Restricted construction or modification. 
  (a) 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 July 1, 1990, 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; from one 
 regional treatment center site to another; or from one building 
 or site to a new or existing building or site on the same 
 campus; 

    (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; 

    (13) a construction project involving the addition of up to 
 31 new beds in an existing nonfederal hospital in Beltrami 
 County; 

    (14) a construction project involving the addition of up to 
 eight new beds in an existing nonfederal hospital in Otter Tail 
 County with 100 licensed acute care beds; 

    (15) a construction project involving the addition of 20 
 new hospital beds used for rehabilitation services in an 
 existing hospital in Carver County serving the southwest 
 suburban metropolitan area.  Beds constructed under this clause 
 shall not be eligible for reimbursement under medical 
 assistance, general assistance medical care, or MinnesotaCare; 

    (16) a project for the construction or relocation of up to 
 20 hospital beds for the operation of up to two psychiatric 
 facilities or units for children provided that the operation of 
 the facilities or units have received the approval of the 
 commissioner of human services; 

    (17) a project involving the addition of 14 new hospital 
 beds to be used for rehabilitation services in an existing 
 hospital in Itasca County; or 

    (18) a project to add 20 licensed beds in existing space at 
 a hospital in Hennepin County that closed 20 rehabilitation beds 
 in 2002, provided that the beds are used only for rehabilitation 
 in the hospital's current rehabilitation building.  If the beds 
 are used for another purpose or moved to another location, the 
 hospital's licensed capacity is reduced by 20 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. 

    HIST: 1990 c 500 s 1; 1990 c 568 art 2 s 8; 1993 c 243 s 1; 
 2000 c 488 art 9 s 1; 1Sp2001 c 9 art 1 s 37; 2002 c 379 art 1 s 
 113; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 7 s 43; 2004 c 187 s 1