Mississippi’s Certificate of Need (CON) process plays a central role in planning for the state’s health facilities, based on need for services, location, size and other factors (Mississippi State Department of Health, n.d.). Mississippi is one of many states to have utilized a CON program throughout the years and in some instances the program is comparable to the CON programs in other states. Certificate of need regulations were originally developed to encourage growth of health care facilities while managing their distribution and costs (Yee, Stark, Bond, & Carrier, 2011). Since then, CON programs have evolved at both the federal and state level. After review of Mississippi’s CON program, one could offer that there are some advantages
