Resurgens East Surgery Center, LLC v. Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: April 24, 2024
• Docket: A24D0295
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ April 24, 2024

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A24D0295. RESURGENS EAST SURGERY CENTER, LLC et al v. GEORGIA ALLIANCE OF COMMUNITY HOSPITALS.

Resurgens East Surgery Center, LLC, Resurgens Fayette Surgery Center, LLC, Orthopedic South Surgical Center, Lawrenceville Surgery Center, LLC, Northwest Georgia Orthopedic Surgery Center, LLC, and Roswell Surgery Center, LLC (collectively, the “Surgery Centers”) are ambulatory surgical centers owned, at least in part, by Resurgens, LLC. The Surgery Centers have filed this application seeking discretionary review of a superior court order that: (1) reversed determinations of the Georgia Department of Community Health (the “Department”) concerning the continuing CON-exempt status of each of the Surgery Centers following a proposed restructuring of Resurgens; (2) ordered each of the Surgery Centers to respond to discovery requests propounded by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals (“the Alliance”); and (3) remanded the case to the Department for an evidentiary hearing. Georgia’s Administrative Procedure Act limits judicial review by the appellate courts of this State to final orders. OCGA § 50-13-20. Thus, “if the superior court orders a remand on any issue, such ruling is not appealable.” Georgia Public Service Commission v. Southern Bell, 254 Ga. 244, 247 (327 SE2d 726) (1985). See also Oxendine v. Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission, 341 Ga. App. 901, 902 (1) (802 SE2d 310) (2017) (“Generally, where a superior court remands [an administrative decision] for additional findings on any issue, this is not a final judgment subject to appellate review.”) (Punctuation omitted.) Relying on this well-established law, the Alliance has moved to dismiss this application for lack of jurisdiction, and the Surgery Centers have filed a brief opposing that motion. Here, despite the Surgery Centers’s arguments to the contrary, we find that the superior court order at issue is not a final order subject to a direct appeal. Accordingly, the Alliance’s motion is GRANTED and this application is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ 04/24/2024 I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.