16-005496CON Pruitthealth Hospice - West Florida, Llc vs. Vitas Healthcare Corporation Of Florida And Agency For Health Care Administration
 Status: Closed
Settled and/or Dismissed prior to entry of RO/FO on Wednesday, October 26, 2016.


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4STATE OF FLORIDA 1 —

9AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION GEi` t - { yAH, Y CLERK

21PRUITTHEALTH HOSPICE — WEST FLORIDA, LLC, 2Q17 JAN 18 A q: Zg

33Petitioner, DOAH CASE NO.: 16- 5496CON

39AHCA CASE NO.: 2016010703

43and CON NO.: 10437

47COVENANT HOSPICE, INC.,

50Intervenor,

51vs.

52VITAS HEALTHCARE CORPORATION OF FLORIDA

57and STATE OF FLORIDA, AGENCY FOR

63HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION,

66Respondents.

67VITAS HEALTHCARE CORPORATION OF FLORIDA,

72Petitioner, DOAH CASE NO.: 16- 5627CON

78AHCA CASE NO.: 2016011176

82VS. CON NO.: 10440

86PRUITTHEALTH HOSPICE - WEST

90FLORIDA, LLC, AND STATE OF FLORIDA,

96AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION,

101Respondents,

102and

103COVENANT HOSPICE, INC.,

106Intervenor.

107FINAL ORDER

109THIS CAUSE is before the State of Florida, Agency for Health Care Administration ( " the

124Agency ") concerning the preliminary approval of Certificate of Need ( " CON ") 10440 filed by

140Vitas Healthcare Corporation of Florida ( " VITAS ") to establish a new hospice program and the

1561

157LC

158preliminary denial of CON 10437 filed by PruittHealth Hospice - West Florida, LLC

171("PruittHealth"), with respect to Hospice Service Area 1.

181The Agency comparatively reviewed CON applications for other beds and programs

192hatching cycle with an application due date of May 18, 2016, for the Hospice Service Area 1. For

210the case at hand, the reviews included in relevant part:

22010436 Bristol Hospice Northwest Florida, LLC New Hospice Program Denied

23010437 PruittHealth Hospice-West Florida, LLC New Hospice Program Denied

23910438 Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care of Pensacola, LLC New Hospice Program Denied

25210439 St. Joseph Hospice Florida Panhandle New Hospice Program Denied

2621 0440 VIT AS Health care Corporation of Florida New Hospice Program Approved

2751. On August 22, 2016, the Agency published notice in the Florida Administrative

288Register of its decisions regarding the preliminary denial of CON 10436, 10437, 10438 and 10439

303and the preliminary approval of CON 10440.

3102. On September 22, 2016, PruittHealth filed a Petition for Formal Hearing contesting

323the denial of its CON 10437, as well as the approval of CON 10440 to VITAS.

3393. The Agency referred the Petitions to the Division of Administrative Hearings and

352an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") was assigned.

3614. On September 29,2016, the ALJ entered an Order of Consolidation, consolidating

374PruittHealth (DOAH 16-5496CON) and VIT AS (DOAH 16-5627CON).

3825. On September 30, 2016, Covenant Hospice, Inc. filed a Motion to Intervene.

3956. On October 4, 2016, the ALJ entered an Order Allowing Intervention of Covenant

409Hospice.

4107. On October 25, 2016, PruittHealth filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal

422voluntarily dismissing and withdrawing its Petition.

4288. On October 26, 2016, the ALJ entered an Order Closing Files and Relinquishing

442Jurisdiction.

443It is therefore ORDERED:

4471. The approval of CON 10440 is UPHELD. The Agency shall issue CON 10440 to

462VITAS.

463ORDERED in Tallahassee, Florida, on this J2 day 20Hl.

472erim Secretary

474are Administration

476NOTICE OF RIGHT TO JUDICIAL REVIEW

482A party who is adversely affected by this Final Order is entitled to judicial review, which shall be

500instituted by filing the original Notice of Appeal with the Agency Clerk of AHCA, and a copy

517along with the filing fee prescribed by law with the District Court of Appeal in the appellate district

535where the Agency maintains its headquarters or where a party resides. Review of proceedings

549shall be conducted in accordance with the Florida appellate rules. The Notice of Appeal must be

565filed within 30 days of the rendition of the order to be reviewed.

578CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

581I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing Final Order has been

597furnished by the method designated to the persons named below on this

609Richard J. Shoop, Agency erk

614Agency for Health Care Administration

6192727 Mahan Drive, Mail Stop #3

625Tallahassee, Florida 32308

628(850) 412-3630

630John D. C. Newton, II

635Administrative Law Judge

638Division of Administrative Hearings

642(Electronic Filing)

644Jay Adams, Esquire

647Broad and Cassel

650Post Office Box 11300

654Tallahassee, Florida 32302

657j adams@broadandcassel. com

660pvaught@broadandcassel.com

661John Gilroy, III, Esquire

665Suite 2, 1695 Metropolitan Circle

670Tallahassee, FL 32308

673john@jgilroylaw.com

674R. Terry Rigsby, Esquire

678Brian Newman, Esquire

681215 South Monroe Street, Second Floor

687Tallahassee, FL 32302

690trigsby@penningtonlaw. com

692brian@penningtonlaw .com

694kowens@penningtonlaw.com

695stephg@penningtonlaw .com

697Richard Joseph Saliba, Assistant General Counsel

703Kevin Michael Marker, Assistant General Counsel

709Office of the General Counsel

714Agency for Health Care Administration

719(Electronic Mail)

721JaniceK. Mills, Government Analyst II

726Facilities Intake Unit

729Agency for Health Care Administration

734(Electronic Mail)

736Marisol M. Fitch, Unit Manager

741Certificate of Need Unit

745Agency for Health Care Administration

750(Electronic Mail)

752Bernard Hudson, Unit Manager

756Long Term Care Unit

760Agency for Health Care Administration

765(Electronic Mail)

Select the PDF icon to view the document.
PDF
Date
Proceedings
PDF:
Date: 01/24/2017
Proceedings: Agency Final Order filed.
PDF:
Date: 01/18/2017
Proceedings: Agency Final Order
PDF:
Date: 10/26/2016
Proceedings: Order Closing Files and Relinquishing Jurisdiction. CASE CLOSED.
PDF:
Date: 10/25/2016
Proceedings: Notice of Voluntary Dismissal filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/24/2016
Proceedings: Covenants Hospice, Inc.'s Preliminary Witness List filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/24/2016
Proceedings: PruittHealth's Preliminary Witness List filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/24/2016
Proceedings: The Agency for Health Care Administration's Preliminary and Final Witness List filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/24/2016
Proceedings: Vitas Healthcare Corporation of Florida's Preliminary Witness List filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/12/2016
Proceedings: Order of Pre-hearing Instructions.
PDF:
Date: 10/10/2016
Proceedings: Notice of Filing Joint Proposed Order of Pre-hearing Instructions filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/06/2016
Proceedings: Amended Notice of Hearing (hearing set for December 5 through 9, 2016; 9:00 a.m.; Tallahassee, FL; amended as to location).
PDF:
Date: 10/05/2016
Proceedings: Notice of Serving Vitas Healthcare Corporation of Florida's First Interrogatories to Covenant Hospice, Inc., filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/05/2016
Proceedings: Vitas Healthcare Corporation of Florida's First Request for Production of Documents to Covenant Hospice, Inc., filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/05/2016
Proceedings: Vitas Healthcare Corporation of Florida's First Request for Admissions to Covenant Hospice, Inc., filed.
PDF:
Date: 10/05/2016
Proceedings: Notice of Telephonic Pre-hearing Conference (set for November 23, 2016; 9:00 a.m.).
PDF:
Date: 10/04/2016
Proceedings: Notice of Hearing (hearing set for December 5 through 9, 2016; 9:00 a.m.; Tallahassee, FL).
PDF:
Date: 10/04/2016
Proceedings: Order Requesting Proposed Order of Pre-hearing Instructions.
PDF:
Date: 10/04/2016
Proceedings: Order Allowing Intervention of Covenant Hospice, Inc.
PDF:
Date: 09/30/2016
Proceedings: Motion to Intervene (filed by Covenant Hospice, Inc.) filed.
PDF:
Date: 09/30/2016
Proceedings: Joint Response to Initial Order filed.
PDF:
Date: 09/29/2016
Proceedings: Vitas Healthcare Corporation of Florida's First Request for Production of Documents to PruittHealth Hospice - West Florida, LLC filed.
PDF:
Date: 09/29/2016
Proceedings: Notice of Serving Vitas Healthcare Corporation of Florida's First Interrogatories to PruittHealth Hospice - West Florida, LLC filed.
PDF:
Date: 09/29/2016
Proceedings: Order of Consolidation (DOAH Case Nos. 16-5496CON, 16-5627CON).
PDF:
Date: 09/27/2016
Proceedings: Initial Order.
PDF:
Date: 09/20/2016
Proceedings: Notice of Appearance (R. Terry Rigsby).
PDF:
Date: 09/20/2016
Proceedings: Petition for Formal Administrative Hearing filed.
PDF:
Date: 09/20/2016
Proceedings: Decisions on Batched Applications filed.
PDF:
Date: 09/20/2016
Proceedings: Notice (of Agency referral) filed.

Case Information

Judge:
JOHN D. C. NEWTON, II
Date Filed:
09/20/2016
Date Assignment:
09/27/2016
Last Docket Entry:
01/24/2017
Location:
Tallahassee, Florida
District:
Northern
Agency:
Other
Suffix:
CON
 

Counsels