P.R. Laws tit. 24, § 334b
The Secretary shall establish, through regulations, the criteria to issue or deny the certificate of necessity and convenience. Upon establishing said criteria, the Secretary shall take into consideration the general guidelines established in the federal act and in §§ 334—334j of this title, according to the public policy and development strategy adopted by the Planning Board, including the Integral Development Plan.
Among said criteria are the following:
(1) The relationship between the transaction for which the certificate is requested, and the long-term service development plan, if any, of the petitioner.
(2) The present and projected need of the population which will be affected by the proposed transaction of the services to be provided thereby.
(3) The existence of alternatives to the transaction for which the certificate is requested, or the possibility of providing the proposed services in a more efficient or less costly manner than that proposed by the petitioner.
(4) The relationship between the health system operating in the area and the proposed transaction.
(5) In the specific case of petitioners for certificates of necessity and convenience to offer health services, the Secretary shall also take into consideration the following factors:
(a) The availability of human and economic resources for the efficient rendering of these services.
(b) The impact that the manner of providing the services shall have on the needs of clinical training of the health professionals of the area in which the services shall be rendered.
(c) The percent of the population of the area to be served which shall have access to the proposed services. The Secretary shall require that the application indicates the time the petitioner will need to make available the service or equipment for which he is petitioning, or to incur the expenses of the transaction.
History —Nov. 7, 1975, No. 2, p. 922, added as § 3 on Sept. 19, 1983, No. 16, p. 385, § 5.