Shewry

St. Francis Medical Center (St. Francis) appeals from the judgment that denied its petition for a writ of administrative mandamus (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5), which sought to set aside a final decision of the Director of the Department of Health Services (Department).

The Department’s decision reversed the proposed decision of an administrative law judge (ALJ) and found that St. Francis owed $1,742,632 in overpayments for inpatient services rendered by St. Francis’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1994, 1995 and 1996.

St. Francis contends the ALJ’s proposed decision, which found no overpayment was owed, should be deemed the final decision of the Department for violation of Government Code section 11517, a provision of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). The Department concedes that the APA generally applies to the agency, but argues that in this case section 11517 is trumped by the more specific provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code section 14171.

Section 11517 provides that an agency must act on an administrative appeal within 100 days of the receipt of a proposed decision from the ALJ. (§ 11517, subd. (c)(2).) If…