Represented Ty Cobb Regional Medical Center, LLC ("Ty Cobb") in an administrative appeal hearing before the Georgia Department of Community Health Certificate of Need Appeal Panel Board, in which a neighboring hospital challenged the Certificate of Need granted to Ty Cobb to consolidate two aging, rural Georgia hospitals into a single, new, $70 million hospital in Lavonia, Georgia. During a three-day administrative hearing, the firm presented considerable evidence showing that if Ty Cobb's Certificate of Need application was not granted, both of the hospitals to be consolidated would have to close their doors, thereby depriving many of the residents of northeast Georgia of local healthcare options. The hearing officer concluded that the proposed consolidation was in the public interest and was consistent with the policy of the State of Georgia to ensure that adequate healthcare services and facilities are made available to all citizens. Accordingly, the hearing officer affirmed the Department's decision to grant Ty Cobb's CON application. The new hospital began operations in 2012.