Preparing for Ohio’s hospital license regime: Where are we today and what comes next?

For years, Ohio had the distinction of being the only state that did not require a license to operate a hospital. That changed in 2021 when Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 110. As of September 30, 2024, Ohio hospitals must obtain a general, hospital-wide license.

The new Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3722 establishes a bare-bones structure for the license and directs the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) to create additional regulations detailing the specifics. For an already heavily regulated industry, that seems fair and simple enough. But, with less than a year before the license requirement goes into effect, there is a great deal of uncertainty among health systems and hospitals. This uncertainty seems to stem from two related, but distinct, issues: deadlines and ODH’s procedure for creating rules. We seek to clear the fog below. READ MORE