Hamptons Hospital & Medical Center, Inc. v. Moore

In 1972, the Public Health Council (council) (defendant) proposed to approve the application of Hampton Hospitals & Medical Center, Inc. (Hamptons) (plaintiff) to open a new hospital. The council’s approval was based on its finding that there was a public need for the proposed hospital and was subject to Hamptons satisfying certain financing conditions. Over the ensuing four years, Hamptons struggled to meet the council’s financial conditions. In 1976, the state Department of Health (department) (defendant) reviewed all pending hospital projects utilizing a new public-need methodology, which led the department to recommend that the council disapprove the Hamptons hospital. In April 1977, the council adopted a resolution stating that it was considering disapproving the Hamptons hospital and that its disapproval would become final unless Hamptons requested a hearing within 20 days. Before the council could conduct a hearing, Hamptons filed a petition against Norman Moore (defendant), chairman of the council, the council, and the department (collectively, state) pursuant to Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) Article 78, seeking an order prohibiting the state from reconsidering the public-need question and requiring the state to grant final approval for the proposed hospital. The supreme court denied Hamptons’s petition on the ground that the council was empowered to reconsider its initial public-need determination. The appellate division converted Hamptons’s Article 78 petition to an action seeking an injunction pursuant to § 2801-c of the Public Health Law, which the appellate division believed was the proper procedural vehicle. On the merits, the appellate division ruled in Hamptons’s favor. The state appealed.