The University of Alabama Board of Trustees applied for an Emergency Certificate of Need from the state to temporarily expand UAB’s Emergency Department (ED) and resolve its extreme overcrowding earlier this month.

A Certificate of Need, or CON, is required before any health facility in Alabama can partake in major capital expenditures or expansions according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

UAB CEO Brenda Carlisle said overcrowding in the ED had reached a “crisis point” in the request.

UAB requested permission from the state to temporarily lease two mobile emergency facility units and renovate parts of the hospital’s waiting room to add 25 additional patient care areas as an “interim” solution in the letter.

These additions will cost just over $10 million which UAB plans to source from their cash on hand the letter says.