Welcome to the Certificate of Need (CON) "Timely Application Page," part of the Michigan Timely Application and Permit Service ( MiTAPS ) Initiative. This page is designed to assist health care providers in determining what services are covered by the Certificate of Need Section of the Michigan Department of Community Health and provide information on necessary documentation to complete the Certificate of Need process.  It is our goal through the MiTAPS Initiative to make Michigan a better place to do business while assuring that only needed medical services are developed in Michigan by balancing cost, quality, and access.

Application Timelines:

• A Letter of Intent will be processed by the department within 15 calendar days after receipt.
• Request for additional information is due to the applicant within 15 calendar days of receipt.
• A proposed decision on a nonsubstantive application will be issued within 45 days following the date deemed complete.
• A proposed decision on a substantive application will be issued within 120 days following the date deemed complete.
• A proposed decision on comparative review group applications will be issued within 150 days following the date deemed complete.

• Increase in the number of licensed beds; relocation of licensed beds from one geographic site to another geographic site; replace beds.
• Acquisition of an existing health facility.
• Begin operation of a new health facility at a site that is not currently licensed for that type of health facility.
• Initiation, replacement, or expansion of covered clinical services.
• Initiation of a short-term nursing care program (Swing Beds).
• Make a covered capital expenditure above the threshold in a licensed health facility (clinical areas only). The capital expenditure threshold is updated annually by the Department based on the Consumer Price Index. The current threshold, effective January 2, 2008, is $2,872,500 for clinical service areas. 

A covered capital expenditure is calculated by the Department by adding the following project cost categories for projects related to licensed health facilities only:

Land Purchase, Building Purchase and Space Lease Cost categories are not included in this calculation if the project is for a change of ownership only for a licensed health facility.

For Purposes of CON, a Health Facility is Defined as a:

• Air ambulance(Helicopter)
• Bone Marrow Transplants
• Cardiac Catheterization(includes diagnostic, therapeutic, angioplasty, and electrophysiology)
• Computed Tomography Scanners (CT)
• Heart/Lung, Liver Transplantation
• Hospital Beds
• Magnetic Radiation Imaging(MRI)
• Megavoltage Radiation Therapy(MRT)
• Neonatal Intensive Care Unit(NICU)
• Nursing Home and Hospital Long-Term Care Beds(NH-HLTCU)
• Open Heart Surgery
• Pancreas Transplantation
• PET Scanners
• Psychiatric Beds- Acute Inpatient
• Surgical Services- Hospital and Freestanding
• Urinary Lithotripters

Contact  Project Review Coordinator or at 517-241-3348 for additional information related to activities described above.   

• Nonsubstantive reviews involve projects not requiring a full review, requiring less information, and are processed more quickly.  Examples of projects that may be reviewed on a nonsubstantive basis are equipment replacements, and acquisitions of existing facilities. (Click on the link to go to CON Form 148  for more information.)
• Substantive reviews involve projects that require a full review but on an individual basis, such as a new MRI unit.
• Comparative reviews involve situations where two or more applicants are competing project types for which the need is limited: beds and transplantation services (excluding pancreas).

• $1,500 for projects costing up to $500,000
• $5,500 for projects costing from $500,000 up to $4,000,000
• $8,500 for projects costing $4,000,000 or more

Alliance for Health
1345 Monroe Avenue NW, Suite 256
Grand Rapids, MI 49505
Telephone: 616-248-3820
Facsimile: 616-248-9170
http://www.afh.org/

Alliance for Health Region:  Allegan, Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, and Ottawa counties.

Contact Us for Assistance:  Staff members are available to provide assistance to individual applicants prior to and throughout the CON process to help ensure that proposed projects meet the needs of the applicant as well as statutory requirements.  The applicant also may contact the Project Review Coordinator  or at 517-241-3348. 
Top

Project Implementation Progress Report (PIPR):   Eleven months after CON approval, an applicant is required to file a PIPR demonstrating that the project is 100 percent complete or an enforceable contract has been executed.  If the project is not complete at that time, the applicant may request a six month extension pursuant to Administrative Rule 325.9403.  Any construction must be initiated and any covered clincial equipment must be installed within 24 months from the date of CON approval.  For more information, contact Follow-Up Analyst or at 517-241-4478.

Amendments: In addition to the application reviews, the CON Section also reviews requests for amendments to approved Certificate of Need applications as allowed by the Administrative Rule  325.9413 . Amendments must be requested using the form supplied by the Department; it may be obtained from the CON Web site, as well.  Amendment requests involve a variety of circumstances including changes in the scope of an approved project, changes in how an approved project is financed, authorization for cost overruns, and changes in equipment from that originally approved.

The Rules  allow actual project costs to exceed approved costs by a specified amount due to the difficulty in estimating construction and other capital costs at the time an application is filed; no amendment request is required if the overruns fall below the threshold.

State of Michigan
Department of Community Health - Certificate of Need Program
Lewis Cass Building, 320 S. Walnut Street, Lansing, MI 48913
Your questions and comments regarding our website are welcome.
Send them to us via CON WebTeam
Updated April 11, 2008