South Carolina Code 44-7-160. Certificate of Need requirements
(1) the construction or other establishment of a new nursing home;
Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-7-160
- Department: means the Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 44-7-130
- Health care facility: means , at a minimum, acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, alcohol and substance abuse hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory surgical facilities, hospice facilities, radiation therapy facilities, rehabilitation facilities, residential treatment facilities for children and adolescents, intermediate care facilities for persons with intellectual disability, or narcotic treatment programs. See South Carolina Code 44-7-130
- Health service: means clinically related, diagnostic, treatment, or rehabilitative services and includes alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health services. See South Carolina Code 44-7-130
- Hospital: means a facility that is organized and administered to provide overnight medical or surgical care or nursing care for an illness, injury, or infirmity and must provide on-campus emergency services; that may provide obstetrical care; and in which all diagnoses, treatment, or care is administered by or under the direction of persons currently licensed to practice medicine, surgery, or osteopathy. See South Carolina Code 44-7-130
- Nursing home: means a facility with an organized nursing staff to maintain and operate organized facilities and services to accommodate two or more unrelated persons over a period exceeding twenty-four hours which is operated either in connection with a hospital or as a freestanding facility for the express or implied purpose of providing intermediate or skilled nursing care for persons who are not in need of hospital care. See South Carolina Code 44-7-130
- Person: means an individual, a trust or estate, a partnership, a corporation including an association, joint stock company, insurance company, and a health maintenance organization, a health care facility, a state, a political subdivision, or an instrumentality including a municipal corporation of a state, or any legal entity recognized by the State. See South Carolina Code 44-7-130
(2) a change in the existing bed complement of a nursing home through the addition of one or more beds or change in the classification of licensure of one or more beds;
(3) an expenditure by or on behalf of a nursing home in excess of an amount to be prescribed by regulation which, under generally acceptable accounting principles consistently applied, is considered a capital expenditure except those expenditures exempted in § 44-7-170(B)(1). The cost of any studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, and other activities essential to the development, acquisition, improvement, expansion, or replacement of any plant or equipment must be included in determining if the expenditure exceeds the prescribed amount;
(4) a capital expenditure by or on behalf of a nursing home which is associated with the addition or substantial expansion of a health service for which specific standards or criteria are prescribed in the South Carolina Health Plan;
(5) the offering of a health service by or on behalf of a nursing home which has not been offered by the facility in the preceding twelve months and for which specific standards or criteria are prescribed in the South Carolina Health Plan;
(6) the acquisition of medical equipment by or on behalf of a nursing home which is to be used for diagnosis or treatment if the total project cost is in excess of that prescribed by regulation.
(B) A person or health care facility, as defined in this article, is required to obtain a Certificate of Need from the department before undertaking the following:
(1) the construction or other establishment of a hospital;
(2) a change in the existing bed complement of a hospital through the addition of one or more beds or change in the classification of licensure of one or more beds.
(C) Effective January 1, 2027, § 44-7-160(B) is repealed.