Tag: COPN
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Regulated States Have Fewer Hospital Beds
by James C. Sherlock Virginians have read my complaints for years that Virginia’s Certificate of Public Need (COPN) law has artificially reduced supply of healthcare facilities in Virginia, driving up prices and reducing access. Legislators who believe as I do have not won the argument for the past 30 years in Richmond. Unfortunately, I offer…
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COVID-19, COPN, and Strawmen
by James C. Sherlock Every time the discussion in this space turns to COPN and its relationship to lack of capacity to deal with COVID-19, some commenters accuse the authors of these columns of favoring nonsensical solutions such as forcing hospitals to build excess capacity. Those same commenters then reject those concepts as unworkable. That…
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COPN’s Deadly Quid Pro Quo
by James C. Sherlock The Northern Virginia Community Hospital in Arlington was bought by HCA in 2002. The Arlington facility was closed in 2006 to comply with a 2005 Certificate of Public Need (COPN) decision that required HCA provide “trade-in” beds in the same health region to gain state permission to build a hospital in…
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Politicians and COVID-19: First, Do No Harm. Second, Do No Harm
by James C. Sherlock Do Not Regulate Surgical Decisions There are things the state should not do during an emergency. Regulating elective procedures is one of them. I agree with the statement of the hospitals[1]. If we had more hospitals and far more physician-owned ambulatory surgical centers, the problem would have an alternative solution. But…