Joe R. Usery v. State

The Alabama State Health Planning Agency (SHPA) has granted a certificate of need (CON) to Crestwood Hospital and Nursing Home, Inc. (Crestwood), for the establishment and operation of an alternative birthing center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Health Care Authority of the City of Huntsville, d/b/a Huntsville Hospital, contested the granting of a CON to Crestwood and filed a petition for judicial review with the Circuit Court of Madison County. Crestwood petitioned the Court of Civil Appeals for a writ of mandamus directing the circuit Judge to dismiss the action in the circuit court on the grounds that Huntsville Hospital had failed to exhaust its administrative remedies. Under the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act (AAPA) §§ 41-22-1 through -27, Ala. Code 1975, the exhaustion of administrative remedies is a jurisdictional prerequisite to filing an action. The Court of Civil Appeals denied the mandamus petition. Ex parte Crestwood Hospital & Nursing Home, Inc., [Ms. AV93000407, Sept. 30, 1994] So. 2d (Ala. Civ. App. 1994). We have granted certiorari review. In October 1991, Crestwood applied for a CON. In December, Huntsville Hospital requested "contested case" status, pursuant to the provisions of the AAPA and § 410-1-8-.02 of the SHPA Rules and Regulations. A contested case was heard before an administrative law Judge (ALJ) in Montgomery in October 1992. The ALJ forwarded a recommended order to the CON Review Board, which adopted the ALJs recommendations and approved Crestwood Hospitals application.