On October 26, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (collectively the “Agencies”) issued a joint statement to the Virginia Certificate of Public Need (“COPN”) Work Group encouraging the Work Group and the Virginia General Assembly to repeal or restrict the state’s certificate of need process. The Virginia COPN Work Group was tasked by the Virginia General Assembly to review the current COPN process and recommend any changes that should be made to it.