Saint Peter’s University Hospital, Appellant-Respondent v. Clifton R. Lacy, M.D.

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the Department's regulations requiring all licensed children's hospitals to operate a Regional Perinatal Center and exempting them from the certificate of need process are valid, reversing the Appellate Division's invalidation of those regulations. The Court reasoned that the statutory designation of specialty acute‑care children's hospitals serves as a legislative finding of need, allowing the regulations to be read in pari materia with the certificate of need statute. A dissent argued that the regulations conflict with the plain language of the certificate of need statute and would have affirmed the Appellate Division.