32.1-125.3 - Bed capacity and licensure in hospitals designated as critical access hospitals; designation as rural hospital.

§ 32.1-125.3. Bed capacity and licensure in hospitals designated as criticalaccess hospitals; designation as rural hospital.

A. Any medical care facility licensed as a hospital pursuant to this articlethat (i) has been certified, as provided in § 32.1-122.07, as a criticalaccess hospital by the Commissioner of Health in compliance with thecertification regulations promulgated by the Health Care FinancingAdministration pursuant to Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, asamended, and (ii) has, as a result of the critical access certification, beenrequired to reduce its licensed bed capacity to conform to the criticalaccess certification requirement shall, upon termination of its criticalaccess hospital certification, be licensed to operate at the licensed bedcapacity in existence prior to the critical access hospital certificationwithout being required to apply for and obtain a certificate of public needfor such bed capacity in accordance with Article 1.1 (§ 32.1-102.1 et seq.)of Chapter 4 of this title.

B. Any medical care facility licensed as a hospital shall be considered arural hospital on and after September 30, 2004, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1395ww(d)(8)(E)(ii)(II), if (i) the hospital is located in an area defined asrural by federal statute or regulation; (ii) the Board of Health defines, inregulation, the area in which the hospital is located as a rural health areaor the hospital as a rural hospital; or (iii) the hospital was designated,prior to October 1, 2004, as a Medicare-dependent small rural healthhospital, as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 1395ww(d)(5)(G)(iv).

(2001, c. 579; 2006, c. 378.)