High Watch Recovery Center, Inc. v. Dept. of Public Health

Summary

The court held that the plaintiff’s written petition to intervene in an already scheduled certificate-of-need hearing constituted a written request for a public hearing, even though it did not use those exact words or identify the plaintiff as an entity with five or more people. Because the statutory conditions for a mandatory hearing were satisfied, the proceeding was a contested case and the department’s approval was a final decision appealable under the UAPA. The judgment was reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings, including consideration of aggrievement.