The bill amends the Code of West Virginia to introduce a new definition for "neighborhood hospital," which is characterized as a facility with a maximum size of 40,000 square feet that provides a limited number of emergency room bays and inpatient beds, along with essential clinical services. It exempts neighborhood hospitals, ambulatory health care facilities, and ambulatory surgical facilities from the certificate of need process, thereby simplifying the establishment and operation of these facilities. The bill also outlines financial indicators for distressed hospitals and maintains that significant changes in service capacity after a transaction must still adhere to existing certificate of need requirements.

In addition to the new definition, the bill removes several existing definitions related to health care facilities, such as "affected person," "ambulatory health care facility," and "hospital," to streamline the language and focus on the newly defined neighborhood hospitals. The legislation aims to enhance access to health care services in West Virginia by reducing regulatory barriers while ensuring that oversight remains for substantial changes in hospital operations. Overall, the bill seeks to facilitate the establishment of essential health care services in the state.

Statutes affected:
Introduced Version: 16-2D-2, 16-2D-10