Attorneys on either side of a contested hospital reversion are disputing whether a 1996 letter by the State Health Planning Agency “constituted or confirmed an authorization under the Certificate of Need, or CON, program to operate as a general acute care hospital,” and if so, whether the authorization conferred a private or public right.

Appellant counsel for Kennestone Hospital Inc. contend the 27-year-old letter that authorized the provision of both short-term and long-term care vested a private right that cannot be impaired retroactively by current CON statutes and regulations.