The North Carolina Certificate of Need (CON) law prohibits health care providers from acquiring certain medical equipment or developing new health services, health service facilities, and health service facility beds without the prior approval of the Department of Health and Human Services. The law restricts unnecessary increases in health care costs and limits unnecessary health services and facilities based on geographic, demographic and economic considerations.
The fundamental premise of the CON law is that increasing health care costs may be controlled by governmental restrictions on the unnecessary duplication of existing or approved health service facilities. To accomplish its purpose, the CON law provides that "no person shall offer or develop a new institutional health service without first obtaining a certificate of need." All new hospitals, , nursing home facilities, adult care homes, kidney disease treatment centers, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, rehabilitation facilities, home health agencies, hospices, diagnostic centers, and ambulatory surgical facilities must first obtain a CON before initiating development.
Administration of the CON law is entrusted to the Department of Health and Human Services. The Healthcare Planning and Certificate of Need (HPCON) Section (the “Section”) in the department's Division of Health Service Regulation is responsible for its implementation. Anyone desiring a certificate of need must apply to the HPCON Section and furnish information upon which the section can find that the application is consistent with specified "review criteria." The Section may approve or deny an application outright, or it may approve the application with such conditions as it finds necessary to bring the project into compliance with the mandated criteria.
Chief, Healthcare Planning and Certificate of Need: Micheala Mitchell, [email protected]
Physical Address: 809 Ruggles Drive, Raleigh, NC 27603
Mailing Address: 2704 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-2704
Telephone: 919-855-3873