How to find New Jersey Certificate of Need filings
Where the New Jersey Department of Health publishes Certificate of Need records, what each document contains, and how to get the ones that are not online.
Where does New Jersey publish CN filings?
The Division of Certificate of Need and Licensing runs the program under N.J.S.A. 26:2H-7 and N.J.A.C. 8:33. Its certificate of need page links the expedited review decisions and the State Health Planning Board decision letters. Board meetings and hearings, with their documents, are on the SHPB meeting pages. The lists of applications filed are posted for 2016 to 2020, for example the 2016 report.
What does each document tell you?
The decision letter gives the decision and its date, the cost, the date submitted and the date the approval expires. The staff recommendation, for full reviews only, gives the project summary, cost, recommendation, reasons and proposed conditions. The SHPB minutes carry a voting record for each motion. The status report lists each filing by county with its filed date, CN number, facility, representative, description, cost and status.
Why is it hard to follow a request from start to finish?
New Jersey stopped posting its list of filings in April 2020, so from then on only decided and posted applications can be seen. The expedited page has no 2016 section, the 2018 status report lists only August to November, and about 100 letters are scanned images. Expedited reviews have no staff report or Board step, and New Jersey has no public letter of intent step. Some Board meetings that voted have no posted minutes.
How do I get records that are not online?
Make an Open Public Records Act request through the Department's OPRA page, which names the records custodian for Certificate of Need and Licensing and links the online request portal. Name the CN numbers or the years of status reports you need.
Is there other public data that helps?
The Department's public notices show which calls for applications were issued, postponed or canceled. Calls also appear in the New Jersey Register, which is not free online. CMS provider and owner files identify certified facilities and their owners.
Where does COPN Atlas fit?
COPN Atlas joins the letters, the Board record and the status reports into one row per CN number and review type: 370 New Jersey rows since 2016, 217 expedited and 57 full reviews among them. 286 were approved, 2 approved in part and 8 denied; 3 were withdrawn, 1 is pending and 70 have no decision found. Full review rows carry the staff recommendation and the Board vote. See what is in the New Jersey file.
Reserve one of the five founding subscriptions
One subscription covers every state in the file. Nothing is due until the first file arrives in January 2027, and you can cancel before then at no cost.