Phelps Dunbar Prevails in Contested CON on Patient Access to MRI Services

October 23, 2018

JACKSON, MS – Phelps Dunbar assisted Oxford Pre-Op & Imaging Services, LLC, (OPIC) in obtaining a certificate of need (CON) for MRI services following a hotly contested application process that was ultimately resolved in the Mississippi Court of Appeals. OPIC’s CON enables the imaging center to improve patient outcomes through increased and faster access to MRIs.

In 2016, Staff of the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) recommended approval of OPIC’s initial CON application, finding OPIC met MSDH’s stringent requirements. However, Baptist Memorial Hospital – North Mississippi and the Oxford Diagnostic Center opposed the application. That opposition led to a three-day complex hearing involving conflicting expert testimony in which OPIC ultimately obtained CON approval.

Baptist subsequently appealed MSDH’s decision to the Chancery Court of Hinds County which affirmed MSDH’s decision. The matter then moved to the Mississippi Court of Appeals which also affirmed the Chancery Court’s decision, unanimously ruling that the CON application was valid.

Phelps Dunbar attorneys Jeff Moore and Blake Adams represented OPIC throughout the CON administrative process and the subsequent appeals.