First few Article Sentences
Washington courts have recently issued several significant decisions relating to the state's Certificate of Need (CN) laws. Collectively, these decisions illustrate that a CN applicant must fully understand each step of the CN process, and how each step relates to the others, in order to adopt the correct strategies, avoid procedural pitfalls, and maximize the likelihood that its application will be granted and survive legal challenges. These decisions also illustrate the corollary point that other interested persons, who may oppose issuance of a CN, must also have a thorough understanding of the process in order to participate most effectively at each stage.