(1) Letters of Intent and applications subject to comparative review shall be accepted in two batching cycles annually each for hospital beds and facilities and for other beds and programs, as specified in paragraph (g) of this subsection. The category “hospital beds and facilities” includes proposals for new hospital facilities, replacement hospital facilities if being replaced more than a mile away, the establishment of new neonatal level II and level III programs unless otherwise exempt pursuant to Section 408.036(3)(l), F.S., and comprehensive medical rehabilitation beds unless otherwise exempt pursuant to Section 408.036(3)(j), F.S., and except as provided in Section 408.037(2), F.S., for a general hospital. Unless otherwise directed by Section 408.037(2), F.S., general hospital applications shall conform to the schedules in this rule and will use all the applications and schedules described in paragraph (1)(f). The category “other beds and programs” includes proposals for pediatric open heart surgery, pediatric cardiac catheterization, specialty burn units, organ transplantation, community nursing home projects, hospice programs, hospice inpatient facilities, and intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled.

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    (a) Letter of Intent. A letter of intent shall state with specificity the type of project proposed with sufficient clarity to notify the public of the intention to file a Certificate of Need application. A separate letter of intent is required for each type of project and for each type of bed or service having a separate need methodology, proposed to be located in a different planning area as defined for each program under this chapter, or licensing category, even if the projects are within the same facility. At least 30 days prior to the applicable batching cycle application due date, an applicant shall file a letter of intent respecting the development of a proposal in the following manner:

    1. The letter of intent must be actually received by the agency by 5:00 p.m. local time. The original of the letter of intent must be submitted to the agency.

    2. A letter of intent is for a specific project within a specific geographic planning area as defined by rule or statute for an established planning horizon. When no planning area is defined, the district should be specified.

    3. A prospective applicant submitting a letter of intent is solely responsible for its conformity with any and all statutory and rule criteria.

    4. If an application is not filed on or before the earliest subsequent due date for filing applications of the same type as that specified in the letter of intent, the letter of intent will be considered invalid and a new letter of intent must be timely filed in a subsequent batching cycle before an application may be filed.

    (b) The contents of the letter of intent shall be consistent with Section 408.039(2)(c), F.S., and must be a written communication with an original signature. The applicant is solely responsible for the content and clarity of the letter of intent. The agency shall not assume any facts not clearly stated. Applications should be submitted with one bound copy and one unbound print copy.

    (c) As to content, the letter of intent shall describe the proposal with specificity by indicating clearly and unequivocally the following information:

    1. Identification of the applicant means the legal name, mailing address, and telephone number of the applicant.

    a. If an existing health care facility or hospice seeks to undertake a project subject to a comparative review, then the legal name of the license holder must be stated and the license holder must be the applicant except when the applicant has a pending application to become the new licensee of the existing health care facility or hospice filed with the applicable licensure unit within the agency’s Bureau of Health Facility Regulation. In addition, the license number and date of expiration must be stated. It is the responsibility of the person issued a license to keep licensure information current. If agency records indicate information different from that presented in the letter of intent with respect to the identification of the holder of the license and the licensure status, then the agency records create a rebuttable presumption as to the correctness of those records and therefore the letter of intent is not valid.

    b. If the proposal is for a project which will result in licensure of a new health care facility or hospice, the applicant seeking the certificate of need must be in existence at the time the letter of intent is submitted. If the applicant is a corporation, Limited Partnership, or otherwise organized, it must have filed an application with the Florida Department of State authorizing the applicant to conduct business in Florida.

    2. The letter of intent must identify the type of project proposed and shall contain only one project type as described in Section 408.036(1), F.S.

    3. The number of beds sought is indicated by the numerical representation of how many beds of a specific type will compose the proposed project.

    4. Services is the type of health care service sought and shall be indicated by describing the specific service requested.

    5. Location refers to the health planning subdistricts adopted in Chapter 59C-2, F.A.C., in each program rule under this chapter, or the service districts. The applicant must indicate the subdistrict by name or number. Applicants must also give the name of the county where the proposed project will be located, as provided in Chapter 59C-2, F.A.C.

    (d) Letter of Intent Deadline Extension. In order to provide for a mechanism by which applications may be filed to compete with the proposals described in filed letters of intent the following provisions apply:

    1. In cases where a letter of intent for a specific type of project has been received by the agency 30 calendar days or more prior to the appropriate application filing due date as set forth in paragraph 59C-1.008(1)(g), F.A.C., and been initially accepted by the agency, a grace period shall be established.

    2. The grace period provides an opportunity for applicants applying for beds, services, or programs having the same Certificate of Need need methodology or health service licensing category proposed in the initially accepted letter of intent in the same applicable subdistrict, district or region to file a proposed competing letter of intent. Under this grace period, a competing letter of intent must be filed not later than 16 days after the letter of intent deadline promulgated under paragraph 59C-1.008(1)(g), F.A.C.

    3. It shall be the sole responsibility of the agency to determine if a letter of intent is competing with any other letter of intent.

    4. The application filing due date shall not be extended for any applicant filing a letter of intent under the requirements of this paragraph.

    5. The agency shall publish notices of filing of letters of intent in the Florida Administrative Weekly in accordance with Section 408.039(2)(d), F.S.

    (e) Failure to comply with the applicable provisions of subsection (1) of this rule will result in the agency’s rejecting the submitted document as a letter of intent. If rejected by the agency, the submitted document may not be amended or corrected but a new proposed letter of intent may be submitted if time allows. An application will not be accepted for review in a batching cycle for which a letter of intent has not been accepted by the agency.

    (f) Certificate of Need Application Submission.

An application for a certificate of need shall be submitted on AHCA Forms 3150-0001, March 2009 Application For A Certificate Of Need, which includes a Cover Page, Schedules A, B, C, D, D-1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6A, 7, 7A, 7B, 8, 8A, 9, 10, and 11, which are incorporated by reference herein. An application for a transfer of a certificate of need shall be submitted on AHCA Form 3150-0003, March 2009 Transfer Of A Certificate of Need which includes Schedules 1(TRN), 10(TRN), 12(TRN), B(TRN), D-1, in addition to a Cover (TRN) Page, which are incorporated by reference herein. An application for a general hospital shall be submitted on AHCA Form 3150-0002, March 2009 Application for a General Hospital Certificate of Need which includes Schedules 11, A(H), B(H), C, D(H) in addition to a Cover (H) Page, which are incorporated by reference herein. Paper copies or copies on electronic media of AHCA Form 3150-0001, March 2009 Application For A Certificate of Need, AHCA Form 3150-0002, March 2009 Application For A General Hospital Certificate of Need or AHCA Form 3150-0003, March 2009 Transfer of A Certificate of Need, and the Schedules may be obtained from:

    Agency for Health Care Administration

    Certificate of Need

    2727 Mahan Drive, Building 1, Mail Stop 28

    Tallahassee, FL 32308

Electronic versions of AHCA Forms 3150-0001, 3150-0002 and 3150-0003 and the Schedules are also available at http://ahca.myflorida.com/MCHQ/CON_FA/Application/index.shtml.

    1. The application must be actually received by the agency by 5:00 p.m. local time on or before the application due date.

    2. Applications for projects which exceed the proposed number of beds contained in the letter of intent shall not be deemed complete for review by the agency and shall be withdrawn from further review.

    3. Applications may propose a lesser number of beds than that contained in the letter of intent.

    (g) Applications Subject to Comparative Review – Batching Cycles. In order that applications pertaining to similar types of services or facilities affecting the same service district or subdistrict may be considered in relation to each other for purposes of comparative review, letters of intent and applications shall be received by the agency no later than dates prescribed in the following schedule:

Hospital Beds and Facilities

2nd Batching Cycle – 2009

Summary Need Projections Published in F.A.W.