Northwest Covenant Medical Center v. Fishman

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

COLEMAN, J.

The primary issue in this case is whether the Department of Health and Senior Services’ (DHSS) refusal to reallocate Northwest Covenant Medical Center’s (Northwest) 1997 charity care subsidy was a quasi-legislative decision. If so, then the forty-five day time limit for appealing an agency action does not apply and Northwest may maintain its appeal if not barred by laches.

The Appellate Division concluded that the DHSS’s charity care subsidy decision was a quasi-judicial determination; thus, the court ruled that the forty-five day time limit…