Certificate of Need is a regulatory process that governs the construction, relocation or renovation of certain healthcare facilities. The Certificate of Need program helps ensure that new facilities, or the expansion of existing facilities, meet the needs of the community. This helps to avoid investment in duplicate facilities.

A Certificate of Need Application begins an extensive review and separate approval processes for each type of application.

The State Health Planning Board acts as an advisory panel to the Commissioner concerning recommendations on certificate of need applications.

Certificate of Need forms and applications

The Certificate of Need Application and Review Process is governed by Chapter 8, Section 33 of the New Jersey Administrative Code (N.J.A.C. 8:33).

The full Certificate of Need review process is extensive and required for the construction, relocation, or renovation of certain healthcare facilities. There are separate approval processes for each type of Certificate of Need application. The Department of Health presents its recommendation on each Certificate of Need to the State Health Planning Board, which acts as an advisory panel to the Commissioner of Health concerning recommendations on certificate of need applications.

New Jersey law permits Expedited Review of Certificate of Need (ERCN) applications by the Department of Health, in lieu of the full review process, in certain circumstances set forth in N.J.A.C. 8:33-5. The expedited review process is less intensive. Each ERCN is evaluated by the Deputy Commissioner of Health Systems and the State Health Planning Board is not involved in the process.

The table below includes the most common scenarios that require either a full or expedited Certificate of Need review. It is intended as an informational guideline only and not as a comprehensive reference.

NJDOH licenses more than 2,000 regulated facilities statewide.  These include hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living residences, ambulatory care centers, home health care, medical day care and other types of health care facilities (complete list).  The licensing program licenses health care facilities in accordance with state and federal regulations.

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