§ 9432. Definitions

As used in this subchapter:

(1) "Ambulatory surgical center" means a facility or portion of a facility that provides surgical care not requiring an overnight stay. The office of a dentist in which activities are limited to dentistry and oral or maxillofacial surgical procedures shall not be deemed an ambulatory surgical center for purposes of this subchapter. In order to be considered an ambulatory surgical center, a facility shall meet all the following criteria:

(A) charge, or intend to charge, a facility fee in addition to professional fees for the services performed;

(B) have an operating room or recovery room in the facility;

(C) use an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist;

(D) provide one or more outpatient services for which Medicare coverage is provided.

(2) "Annual operating expense" means that expense which, by generally accepted accounting principles, is incurred by a new health care service during the first fiscal year in which the service is in full operation after completion of the project.

(3) "Applicant" means a person who has submitted an application or proposal requesting issuance of a certificate of need.

(4) "Bed capacity" means the number of licensed beds operated by the facility under its most current license under chapter 43 of this title and of facilities under 33 V.S.A. chapter 71.

(5) "Capital expenditure" means an expenditure for the plant or equipment that is not properly chargeable as an expense of operation and maintenance and includes acquisition by purchase, donation, leasehold expenditure, or lease that is treated as capital expense in accordance to the accounting standards established for lease expenditures by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, calculated over the length of the lease for plant or equipment, and includes assets having an expected life of at least three years. A capital expenditure includes the cost of studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, and other activities essential to the acquisition, improvement, expansion, or replacement of the plant and equipment.

(6) "Construction" means actual commencement of any construction or fabrication of any new building, or addition to any existing facility, or any expenditure relating to the alteration, remodeling, renovation, modernization, improvement, relocation, repair, or replacement of a health care facility, including expenditures necessary for compliance with life and health safety codes.

(7) "To develop," when used in connection with health services, means to undertake activities which on their completion will result in the offer of a new health care project, or the incurring of a financial obligation in relation to the offering of a service.

(8) "Health care facility" means all persons or institutions, including mobile facilities, whether public or private, proprietary or not for profit, which offer diagnosis, treatment, inpatient, or ambulatory care to two or more unrelated persons, and the buildings in which those services are offered. The term shall not apply to any institution operated by religious groups relying solely on spiritual means through prayer for healing, but shall include:

(A) hospitals, including general hospitals, mental hospitals, chronic disease facilities, birthing centers, maternity hospitals, and psychiatric facilities including any hospital conducted, maintained, or operated by the State of Vermont, or its subdivisions, or a duly authorized agency thereof;

(B) nursing homes, health maintenance organizations, home health agencies, outpatient diagnostic or therapy programs, kidney disease treatment centers, mental health agencies or centers, diagnostic imaging facilities, independent diagnostic laboratories, cardiac catheterization laboratories, radiation therapy facilities, or any inpatient or ambulatory surgical, diagnostic, or treatment center.

(9) "Health care provider" means a person, partnership, corporation, facility, or institution, licensed or certified or authorized by law to provide professional health care service in this State to an individual during that individual's medical care, treatment, or confinement.

(10) "Health services" mean activities and functions of a health care facility that are directly related to care, treatment, or diagnosis of patients.

(11) "Material change" means a change to a health care project for which a certificate of need has been issued which:

(A) constitutes a new health care project as defined in section 9434 of this title; or

(B) increases the total costs of the project by more than 10 percent of the approved amount.

(12) "Nonmaterial change" means a modification that does not meet the cost threshold of a material change as defined in subdivision (11) of this section, but otherwise modifies the kind, scope, or capacity of a project for which a certificate of need has been granted under this subchapter.

(13) "Obligation" means an obligation for a capital expenditure which is deemed to have been incurred by or on behalf of a health care facility or health maintenance organization.

(14) "To offer," when used in connection with health services, means that a health care provider holds itself out as capable of providing, or as having the means for the provision of, specified health services. (Added 1979, No. 65, § 1; amended 1985, No. 151 (Adj. Sess.), § 16; 1985, No. 234 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1987, No. 96, § 8; 1989, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25(b); 1991, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 24, eff. May 11, 1992; 1993, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 3, 4; 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 23; 1997, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. April 29, 1998; 2003, No. 53, §§ 9, 26; 2005, No. 71, § 77c; 2007, No. 139 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2009, No. 49, § 13.)