PARKERSBURG – The West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia upheld an order allowing the Kanawha County Circuit Court to dismiss a case involving a Parkersburg drug and alcohol rehabilitation center trying to expand their treatment bed availability in Wood County.

In the ruling issued by the Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia (ICA) and written by Chief Judge Dan Greear, the court upheld an order from the Kanawha County Circuit Court granting the West Virginia Department Of Health Office of Health Facility Licensure And Certification’s (OHFLAC) motion to dismiss a case as Clean & Clear Advantage of Parkersburg still has administrative remedies to do in order to expand its treatment bed capacity in Wood County.

Clean & Clear operates a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Parkersburg in the former federal building on Juliana Street. In August 2020, Clean & Clear obtained an initial license from the OHFLAC to operate a facility with 59 substance abuse treatment beds, which was later amended to permit an additional 55 substance abuse treatment beds. In Feb. 2022, the OHFLAC authorized Clean & Clear to do a construction project to expand its capacity to have up to 300 beds.

In August 2023, Clean & Clear applied for a license to operate with an additional 160 substance abuse treatment beds, consistent with the construction approval it had received from OHFLAC.

Clean & Clear received a letter from OHFLAC, dated August 28, 2023, denying its application. Clean & Clear appealed the decision to the Department of Health and Human Resources Board of Review claiming they opened the facility at a time they were under an exemption to the state’s certificate of need process they said should remain in place despite changes in state law and that they had already put substantial resources into its expansion plans which were already approved.

Clean & Clear filed a civil action in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County seeking injunctive and declaratory relief regarding OHFLAC’s denial of its licensure amendment.

“Upon review of the record, applicable law, and the oral and written arguments of counsel, we find no error with the circuit court’s conclusion that Clean & Clear was required to appeal OHFLAC’s denial of its licensure amendment to this Court in order to exhaust its administrative remedies,” the decision said. “Although Clean & Clear filed a notice of appeal with this Court, it abandoned its appeal before a final decision on the merits was reached.

“By not allowing the appeal process to run its course through completion, Clean & Clear failed to exhaust its administrative remedies (before seeking court intervention).”

Upon receiving a decision from the Board of Review upholding OHFLAC’s denial, Clean & Clear filed a notice of appeal with the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals, the decision said.

“Clean & Clear failed to perfect the appeal by (the) deadline and, accordingly, the appeal was dismissed,” the decision said. “Therefore, by abandoning its appeal before the ICA, Clean & Clear failed to exhaust its administrative remedies. Accordingly, we find no error with the circuit court’s order dismissing Clean & Clear’s complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”

Attorney Sean W. Cook, who represented Clean & Clear, said they were exploring all of their options, once they can substantially review the decision.

Contact Brett Dunlap at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com