Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly
Tennessee SB1369: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 33; Title 68; Title 71 and Chapter 985 of the Public Acts of 2024, relative to certificates of need.
Status: Chaptered, May 18, 2026
Fiscal Summary NOT SIGNIFICANT Bill Summary Present law generally requires that a person obtain a certificate of need to establish a hospital, other than a mental health hospital. Effective July 1, 2028, this bill adds that a certificate of need will not be required to establish an acute care hospital, which this bill defines to mean a hospital with a primary focus on patients with an average length of stay of 25 days or less. ON MARCH 26, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1, #2, AND #3 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1369, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 adds authorization for the health facilities commission to license acute care hospitals and requires that any person, partnership, association, or corporation, this state, a county or local government unit, and any division, department, board, or agency of a government unit, shall not establish, conduct, operate, or maintain an acute care hospital in Tennessee without a license. This amendment changes this bill's effective date from upon becoming a law for all purposes to upon becoming a law for rulemaking purposes and July 1, 2030, for all other purposes. AMENDMENT #2 removes the present law requirement for a certificate of need to open a satellite emergency department, in counties where such requirement presently applies. This amendment authorizes the health facilities commission to license satellite emergency departments and prohibits a person from establishing or operating a satellite emergency department unless the satellite emergency department is licensed as an outpatient department of a licensed hospital. AMENDMENT #3 removes the present law requirement for a certificate of need in order to provide cardiac catheterization. This amendment authorizes the health facilities commission to license cardiac catheterizations. This amendment prohibits a person f
What the bill says
From the amended text:
Amendment No. 9 to HB0819 Garrett Signature of Sponsor AMEND S e n ate Bill No. 1369 House Bill No. 819* by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-11-1602(10)(B), is amended by adding the following as a new SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-11-1602, is amended by adding the following as a new subdivision: ( ) "Acute care hospital" means a hospital with a primary focus on patients with an average length of stay of twenty-five (25) days or less; SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-11-1607, is amended by adding the following as a new subsection: ( ) This part does not require a certificate of need to establish or operate an acute care hospital. SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-11-204(a)(1), is amended by adding the following as a new SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-11-202(a)(1), is amended by adding "acute care hospitals," immediately preceding "recuperation centers". SECTION 6. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-11-1602(10)(B), is amended by adding the following as a new HA1126 SECTION 7. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 68-11-1607(a)(6), is amended by deleting the subdivision and substituting: (6) Except as provided in subsection (x), the establishment of a satellite inpatient facility by a hospital at a location other than the hospital's main campus. SECTION 8. …