Center for Policy, Planning and Epidemiology Certificate of Need Program State Health Planning and Development Agency How Is a Certificate of Need Obtained? The process to obtain a Certificate of Need involves: Submission of a letter of intent and a copy of a notice published in a newspaper A pre-application conference with the SHPDA staff Submission of an application A review by SHPDA staff of the application A review by the Project Review Committee (PRC) A review by the Statewide Health Coordinating Council (SHCC) Final decision by the SHPDA Director