(a)

(1) A permit of approval shall not be required by the Health Services Permit Agency or the Health Services Permit Commission for any applicant to qualify for a Class B license, as provided in § 20-10-801 et seq., to operate a home healthcare services agency, if the home healthcare services agency was serving patients on or before June 30, 1988, and if the home healthcare services agency serves the residents of the county where the principal office is located.

(2) Nursing home applications under review by the Health Services Permit Agency on June 2, 1987, are considered under the provisions of this subchapter under updated standards on a county-by-county basis.

(3)

(A) Beginning July 1, 2005, the Health Services Permit Agency may not accept applications for permits of approval for the construction of new residential care facilities.

(B) Applications for replacement of residential care facilities may not be accepted and processed after July 1, 2005.

(C) However, applications for replacement of residential care facilities shall be accepted for residential care facilities of sixteen (16) beds or fewer but only if the number of beds required for replacement is less than or equal to the number of beds for which the residential care facility was licensed before the application for replacement.

(b) (1) (A) The alteration or renovation of a health facility having an associated capital expenditure of less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) for nursing homes and not resulting in additional bed capacity shall not require a permit of approval.

(B) However, the Health Services Permit Agency shall not allow hospital acute care beds to be converted to or allow their license classification to be changed to long-term care beds without going through the permit-of-approval process.

(2) Permits, legal title, and right of ownership may be transferred with the approval of the commission if the entity presently holding the permit, legal title, or right of ownership has tangible assets of at least two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) that will be transferred with the permit, legal title, or right of ownership.

(3) The application for the permit of approval shall include, but need not be limited to, such information as is necessary to determine:

(A) Whether the proposed project is needed or projected as being necessary to meet the needs of the locale or area in terms of the health care required for the population or geographic region;

(B) Whether the proposed project can be adequately staffed and operated when completed;

(C) Whether the proposed project is economically feasible; and

(D) Whether the project will foster cost containment through improved efficiency and productivity.

(c) If the application is granted, the Health Services Permit Agency shall issue a permit of approval, if it finds that the proposed project meets the criteria for approval as set by the commission. If the application is denied, the Health Services Permit Agency shall send written notice of the denial to the applicant which sets forth the criteria that the proposed project failed to meet.

(d) Any applicant or interested party seeking review of a final Health Services Permit Agency decision regarding permits of approval, movement of beds, or transfer of permits of approval shall file a written appeal for hearing before the commission on an approved form within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the Health Services Permit Agency decision.

(e) Appeals to the commission shall be conducted in accordance with the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq.