In re Nw. Ala. Treatment Ctr., Inc.
Decision Date | 22 April 2016 |
Docket Number | 2150415 |
Parties | Ex parte Alabama Department of Mental Health and Commissioner James V. Perdue, in his official capacity as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health (In re: Northwest Alabama Treatment Center, Inc. v. Alabama Department of Mental Health and Commissioner James V. Perdue, in his official capacity as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health) |
Court | Alabama Court of Civil Appeals |
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.
The Alabama Department of Mental Health ("ADMH") and James V. Perdue, in his official capacity as commissioner of ADMH ("the commissioner"), petition this court for a writ of mandamus to the Jefferson Circuit Court, Bessemer Division ("the trial court"), directing that court to set aside an order dated January 13, 2016, granting a stay of ADMH's interim decision to revoke the certification of Northwest Alabama Treatment Center, Inc. ("Northwest"), and to dismiss the proceedings in the trial court. To the extent that ADMH and the commissioner seek a writ of mandamus instructing the trial court to dismiss the proceedings, we deny the petition. Further, we construe ADMH's petition, in part, i.e., insofar as it seeks review of the January 13, 2016, order granting a stay of ADMH's interim decision, to be an appeal. In turn, we dismiss the appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction.
In their petition to this court, ADMH and the commissioner assert that opioid-maintenance therapy facilities (commonly referred to as methadone clinics), in order to conduct operations in Alabama, must be certified by ADMH pursuant to Ala. Admin Code (ADMH), Rule 580-3-23-.06. Pursuant to Ala. Admin Code (ADMH), Rule 580-3-23-.16(4), the commissioner has the authority to decertify an entity The materials before us show that ADMH had previously certified the facility operated by Northwest, which is located in Bessemer, tooperate as an opioid-maintenance therapy facility and to dispense methadone, a schedule II controlled substance. See § 20-2-25(2)(k), Ala. Code 1975.
On November 13, 2015, the commissioner sent a letter to Robert Beeler, the executive director of Northwest, notifying Northwest of alleged deficiencies that ADMH had detected during a community-standards site visit it had conducted at Northwest's facility in September 2015.1 The letter requested Northwest to submit a plan of action to correct the deficiencies to the Office of Certification Administration of ADMH within 30 days of the date of the letter. On December 14, 2015, the commissioner sent Beeler a letter notifying Northwest of alleged deficiencies detected during a second site visit conducted on November 10, 2015. The commissioner stated in the second letter that, "[b]ased on the recommendations of the Associate Commissioner for the Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Service and the provisions of the Alabama Administrative Code, § 580-3-23-.04 and § 580-3-23-.16(4), it is my intent to decertify your agency ...." (Emphasis in original.) The commissionercontinued in the second letter: "I further find it necessary to revoke your Department certification as of January 15, 2016, because of deficiencies cited [that] pose a serious threat to the safety and welfare of the consumers being served." The December 14, 2015, letter referenced Northwest's right to appeal ADMH's decision and of the right to an administrative hearing on the matter.
On December 18, 2015, counsel for Northwest sent a letter to the commissioner notifying ADMH of its appeal of the decision to revoke Northwest's certification and requesting an administrative hearing. On December 30, 2015, counsel for Northwest sent correspondence by e-mail to representatives of ADMH requesting that ADMH stay its decision to revoke the certification pending the administrative appeal. That same day, Northwest filed a petition in the trial court seeking judicial review of ADMH's failure to stay its revocation of Northwest's certification pending Northwest's administrative appeal.
On January 4, 2016, the commissioner sent Northwest a notice that ADMH would not stay the decision to decertify Northwest's facility as of January 15, 2016. That same day,the trial court entered an order at the request of Northwest, stating: "Pursuant to Code of Ala., § 41-22-20(c), and the petition filed herein, the Administrative Orders of the [ADMH] dated November 13, 2015 and December 14, 2015 are stayed as to Northwest ... pending a resolution of its appeal dated December 18, 2015."
On January 6, 2016, ADMH and the commissioner filed a motion to set aside the trial court's order staying the administrative orders and a motion to dismiss the action for lack of jurisdiction, lack of standing, and improper venue. ADMH and the commissioner also contended in the motion that they had not been properly served with the summons and the complaint pursuant to Rule 4, Ala. R. Civ. P., and that the trial court had failed to provide ADMH and the commissioner with an opportunity to respond to Northwest's petition and, thus, had failed to comply with Rule 40(a), Ala. R. Civ. P. On January 8, 2016, the trial court entered an order setting the matter for a hearing on January 12, 2016.
Following the hearing held on January 12, 2016,2 the trial court entered a judgment on January 13, 2016, stating:
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