Total Renal Care of N.C., LLC v. N.C. Dep't of Health & Human Servs.

DIETZ, Judge.

*667This appeal challenges the process by which the Department of Health and Human Services determines whether two certificate-of-need applications are "competitive," meaning they must be reviewed together.

The certificate of need law directs DHHS to "establish schedules for submission and review of completed applications" and further directs that "[t]he schedules shall provide that applications for similar proposals in the same service area will be reviewed together." N.C. Gen.Stat. § 131E-182(a) (2013). The agency also promulgated its own regulation stating that applications must be…