A surgeon group denied a certificate of need application to build an ambulatory surgery center in Kenai, Alaska, has appealed the denial, according to a Peninsula Clarion report.
The surgeon group, Kahtnu Ventures, had applied to build a single-suite, 8,365-square-foot freestanding ambulatory surgical center with a projected cost of just under $9.1 million.
The application was denied in April because it was determined that "the application has not met the applicable criteria for approval to the satisfaction of the State of Alaska Department of Health and Social Services," according to a copy of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services commissioner's decision (pdf)
Kahtnu appealed the decision in a May 3 letter sent through its lawyers on grounds that the "CON staff appears to have purposefully distorted much of the information to be considered in order to arrive at an outcome-determined result," according to the Peninsula Clarion report citing the denial request.
The CON application has been heavily debated for the past several months, with Central Peninsula Hospital in Soldotna, Alaska, lobbying against the project. The state received more than 800 letters of support for the proposed ASC and more than 200 letters in opposition.
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