On June 30, 2020 the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) announced in a newsletter that the agency will prepare to resume the Certificate of Need (CON) application review process. This includes transitioning to virtual hearings, as Connecticut’s COVID-19 restrictions still prevent any in-person hearings. While OHS has yet to announce a specific date for resumption of CON hearings, “OHS officials expect the first of these virtual CON public hearings to be held sometime this summer.”

The virtual hearings are essential to resuming the CON process in Connecticut, as each CON application involves a public hearing. In the newsletter, OHS stressed the importance of the public hearings in allowing applicants to make their case, intervenors to make concerns known, and the public to weigh in. Accordingly, OHS indicated there will be prior notice of access information, relevant documents, and participation information to the parties and public, along with pre-hearing test runs with the parties, to “ensure an orderly presentation of evidence, testimony, questions, answers, and public comment.” The hearings will be conducted using Zoom or another video-conferencing platform.

As OHS begins preparing to resume CON hearings it is likely more information relevant to CON applicants and interested parties will continue to be released by the agency.

This post was co-authored by Michael Lisitano, legal intern at Robinson+Cole. Michael is not yet admitted to practice law.