Mississippi State Department of Health v. Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center

ROBERTSON, Justice,

for the Court:

I

This is another health services licensing dispute. At issue is whether the State Health Officer (SHO) acted arbitrarily and capriciously when he denied the applicant’s request for a Certificate of Need (CON) to offer cardiac catheterization services in Southwest Mississippi. The SHO denied the CON on grounds of an inadequate population base in the area the applicant serves. The Chancery Court held the SHO’s action impermissible and reversed.

For the reasons set forth below, we reverse and reinstate the SHO’s order denying the CON.

II

•Southwest Mississippi…