The Columbia Daily Herald checks in on the status of HCA's application to build a $9 million ER in Spring Hill and sees that the hospital giant's opposition there hasn't yet committed to a new fight. But...

According to state law, any health care institution wishing to oppose a certificate of need application must file a written objection with the agency no later than 15 days before the meeting at which the application would be considered.

However, the law also states that a health care institution doesn’t have to comply with that time frame and can still appear before the agency to oppose the application if it pays for the costs for a “contested case” hearing and also reimburses the applicant’s filing fee.