Certificate of public need; psychiatric beds and facilities.

Certificate of public need; psychiatric bedsand facilities. Removes mental hospitals and psychiatric hospitalsand intermediate care facilities established primarily for the medical,psychiatric, or psychological treatment and rehabilitation of individualswith substance abuse from the list of medical care facilities forwhich a certificate of public need is required prior to initiationof a project. The bill makes clear that only facilities licensedas hospitals by the Department of Health are subject to certificateof public need requirements; removes from the definition of projectthe addition of a new psychiatric or substance abuse treatment serviceand conversion of beds in an existing medical care facility to psychiatricbeds; and prohibits the conversion in an existing medical care facilityof psychiatric beds to non-psychiatric beds.