Nashville’s NewsChannel5 reports that a bill moving through the Tennessee state legislature could eliminate the state’s certificate of need (CON) rules by 2030.
Supporters of the bill say its passage could allow more hospitals to open in the Volunteer State, particularly in rural areas where facilities have been closing. According to the TV station, more than a dozen rural hospitals in Tennessee have closed since 2010, leaving many counties without medical centers.
CON rules require stakeholders to prove community need before a new hospital project can move forward, usually at great expense. The report quotes Kyle Kopec, chief medical compliance officer for Braden Health, which purchased and reopened Perry County Community Hospital in 2025: “We had to spend around a million dollars. You have to spend a million dollars to ask someone if you can open a hospital.”
The bill, which has not yet passed into law, would remove cardiac catheterization labs and freestanding emergency rooms from the CON process by next year, and acute care hospitals by 2030. “Under the bill, hospitals could open where they choose — including next to existing facilities — without state oversight,” reports NewsChannel5.
Tennessee House Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth (R) supports the bill, saying it will improve access, reduce costs, decrease wait times, and increase competition.
However, one rural community hospital leader testified during a hearing on the bill that eliminating CON rules could put his facility in dire straits. “Sumner Regional Medical Center and Hendersonville Medical Center could open up a freestanding ED right in the middle of Lafayette, [and] siphon off probably half of our admissions,” said Macon Community Hospital CEO Scott Tongate.
Tennessee Senate Minority Leader Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D) also expressed concern. “We’ve seen states like Texas where they have no Certificate of Need, and it’s really the wild wild west of hospitals sprouting up,” he said.
Read the full report here.
