A determination that a project fosters an acceptable or improved quality of health care shall be based on the following criteria.

(1) A sufficient supply of qualified staff for the project, including both health personnel and management personnel, are available or can be recruited.

(2) The proposed service(s) will have an appropriate relationship, including organizational relationship, to ancillary and support services, and ancillary and support services will be sufficient to support any health services included in the proposed project.

(3) There is reasonable assurance that the project will be in conformance with applicable state licensing requirements and, if the applicant is or plans to be certified under the medicaid or medicare program, with the applicable conditions of participation related to those programs.

(4) The proposed project will promote continuity in the provision of health care, not result in an unwarranted fragmentation of services, and have an appropriate relationship to the service area's existing health care system.

(5) There is reasonable assurance that the services to be provided through the proposed project will be provided in a manner that ensures safe and adequate care to the public to be served and in accord with applicable federal and state laws, rules, and regulations. The assessment of the conformance of a project to this criterion shall include but not be limited to consideration as to whether:

(a) The applicant or licensee has no history, in this state or elsewhere, of a criminal conviction which is reasonably related to the applicant's competency to exercise responsibility for the ownership or operation of a health care facility, a denial or revocation of a license to operate a health care facility, a revocation of a license to practice a health profession, or a decertification as a provider of services in the medicare or medicaid program because of failure to comply with applicable federal conditions of participation; or

(b) If the applicant or licensee has such a history, whether the applicant has affirmatively established to the department's satisfaction by clear, cogent and convincing evidence that the applicant can and will operate the proposed project for which the certificate of need is sought in a manner that ensures safe and adequate care to the public to be served and conforms to applicable federal and state requirements.