A Court of Claims this week dismissed a lawsuit filed by Southfield, Mich.-based Beaumont Health that claimed Michigan regulators wrongly rejected its application to build a hospital, according to Crain's Detroit Business.
Beamont submitted an application to the Certificate of Need Commission last March to build a 117-bed facility in Oxford, Mich., after a certificate of need study found a shortfall of hospital beds in the area. Shortly after, Beamont bought a 25-acre property and began planning the facility.
In the lawsuit, filed last November, Beamont claims that right after it publicly announced the hospital, state regulators announced plans to change its certificate of need standards. The new standards would ensure the proposed location for the hospital serves a population of at least 50,000 residents.
As a result of the new proposed standards, the regulators rejected Beaumont's application. Beaumont appealed the state Department of Health and Human Services' decision.
At the same time, Beamont filed a lawsuit to prevent the state from issuing the new rules while Beamont's appeal is pending. Beamont argued in the suit that the system would "suffer irreparable harm" if the new rules were enacted.
Judge Christopher Murray dismissed the suit in favor of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, ruling that the hospital didn't exhaust all administrative procedures available before filing the lawsuit.
Mr. Murray added that the court lacks jurisdiction in reviewing the case because the matter is unresolved between the two parties because the appeal is still pending.