Section 439A.NEW - [Newly enacted section not yet numbered] [Written approval required to convert hospital]1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, no person may close a hospital in a county whose population is 100,000 or more or convert a hospital in such a county into a different type of health facility without first applying for and obtaining the written approval of the Director or the designee of the Director. The Division of Public and Behavioral Health of the Department shall not issue a new license or alter an existing license for conversion to a different type of health facility unless the Director or the designee of the Director has issued such an approval.2. The Director may adopt regulations which prescribe the process to apply for written approval pursuant to this section.3. An applicant must provide any information requested by the Director or the designee of the Director for consideration of an application, which must include, without limitation, information related to:(a) The location of the hospital;(b) The ownership structure of the hospital;(c) Whether the closure or conversion is likely to benefit any other health facility in the same geographic area as the hospital in which any person with an ownership interest in the hospital also has an ownership interest;(d) An explanation of the need for the closure or conversion;(e) Data regarding the population served by the hospital in the 24 months immediately preceding the application; and(f) The manner in which and the locations where the population served by the hospital will be able to obtain the health services that were provided by the hospital during the 24 months following the closure or conversion of the hospital.4. The Director or the designee of the Director shall not approve an application submitted pursuant to subsection 1 without considering the information required to be submitted pursuant to subsection 3.5. The decision of the Director or the designee of the Director pursuant to this section is a final decision for the purposes of judicial review.6. The provisions of this section do not apply to any person who ceases to operate hospitals in this State.Added by 2023, Ch. 375,§2, eff. 1/1/2024.