Kemp signs bill to loosen rules on building new hospitals
ATHENS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday signed legislation into law that will loosen state regulations on when and where new hospitals can be built.
The measure will allow a hospital to open without a permit in any rural county where a prior hospital has been closed for more than 12 months.
The measure makes changes in “certificate of need” regulations, which were a factor in the effort to build Columbia County’s first hospital – a project that’s now underway after years of legal battles. The law will also shorten the time for review of hospital applications and expand the rural hospital tax credit program.
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The measure will also allow the Morehouse School of Medicine to open a hospital in central Atlanta that could provide services once offered by the now-shuttered Atlanta Medical Center.
State Rep. Butch Parrish, R-Swainsboro, and other legislators ed Kemp at the University of Georgia in Athens, on Friday as he signed House Bill 1339 into law.
The measure was sponsored by Parrish and co-sponsored by House Speaker Jon Burns, a Screven County Republican.
“This bill g marks a historic step in the House’s ongoing efforts to expand health care access in Georgia,” Burns said.
“With the governor’s signature of House Bill 1339, we are taking a huge step forward to expand access to quality, affordable health care in our state — particularly in our rural communities,” Parrish said. “We know that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to health care, but I firmly believe this legislation is a bold step in the right direction.”
Burns commended Parrish for his “tireless efforts” working on the bill.
Kemp also signed legislation to expand the rural physician tax credit, allow student loan forgiveness for rural dental professionals, establish a loan repayment program for eligible mental health and substance use professionals and reorganize the county boards of public health.
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