Representatives from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced Friday afternoon Health Commissioner Dr. Marissa J. Levine granted an extension request from Mountain States and Wellmont health systems for the Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) application.
According to information provided by the department, the additional extension request eliminates the previous September 30 deadline and shifts it to October 30 to make a final decision on the COPA.
The application for the extension was presented by Mountain States and Wellmont CEOs Alan Levine and Bart Hove on Thursday, Sept. 28.
“The Applicants want to ensure that the Commissioner and her staff have sufficient time to review the Tennessee Terms and consider the possible interplay between the Tennessee Terms and the Virginia Application,” read the letter presented to the Commissioner signed from both Levine and Hove.
Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner announced the state’s intention to pass the COPA for Tennessee, clearing the first hurdle in seeing MSHA and Wellmont become Ballad Health.
With the extension in place, Virginia officials will now be able to use the new timeframe to go through the information provided from Tennessee’s approval of the COPA and the different guidelines in place for supervisory sanctions, rural hospitals and implementation of funding various projects to assist the healthcare market in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
Both health systems have been working with the state to acquire a COPA since 2016.