Florida Senate - 2017 CS for SB 510
By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senators Gainer and
Montford
588-01939-17 2017510c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to a grant program for rural
3 hospitals; amending s. 395.6061, F.S.; providing
4 legislative findings and intent; requiring the
5 Department of Health to establish and administer the
6 Florida Rural Hospital Capital Improvement Competitive
7 Grant Program for certain rural hospitals; revising
8 the amount of a grant award; revising grant
9 eligibility; providing criteria for grant application
10 ranking; establishing allowable use of funds;
11 requiring the department to submit an annual report to
12 the Governor and the Legislature; deleting
13 requirements for certain information in grant
14 applications; deleting provisions relating to the
15 disbursal of funds; providing an effective date.
16
17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19 Section 1. Section 395.6061, Florida Statutes, is amended
20 to read:
21 395.6061 Rural hospital capital improvement.—
22 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—The Legislature finds
23 that rural hospitals have limited ability to increase operating
24 revenues or to access other public or private funding sources
25 that are needed to maintain critical infrastructure, including,
26 but not limited to, the replacement of high-cost medical care
27 equipment or improvements to facility infrastructure. Rural
28 hospitals that do not have reasonable access to alternative
29 sources of revenue to pay for critical infrastructure needs are
30 at risk, and patient access, care, and quality are threatened.
31 Therefore, the Legislature finds that it is necessary to
32 establish the Florida Rural Hospital Capital Improvement
33 Competitive Grant Program for eligible rural hospitals to ensure
34 their sustainability.
35 (2) FLORIDA RURAL HOSPITAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT COMPETITIVE
36 GRANT PROGRAM.—The Department of Health shall establish and
37 administer the Florida Rural Hospital Capital Improvement
38 Competitive Grant Program for rural hospitals. Subject to annual
39 appropriation, the department shall establish grant awards up to
40 $750,000 for each hospital that meets the eligibility
41 requirements in subsection (3). Grants must be made available to
42 eligible rural hospitals based on the competitive grant program
43 and on criteria established by the department.
44 (3) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible for a grant
45 award, a hospital must be a rural hospital, as defined in s.
46 395.602, and must demonstrate that:
47 (a) Grant funds are necessary to maintain or improve the
48 quality of its health care services;
49 (b) There is a return on investment to the taxpayers of
50 this state; and
51 (c) A satisfactory recordkeeping system will be in place to
52 account for the expenditures of grant funds within the rural
53 county.
54 (4) AWARD OF GRANTS.—The department shall establish by rule
55 a grant application process and criteria for the evaluation of
56 applications. The department shall score and rank grant
57 applications based on criteria that must include, at a minimum,
58 the following:
59 (a) The social and economic benefit to the surrounding
60 community.
61 (b) The promotion of economic development in the
62 surrounding community.
63 (c) The expansion of available services to the underserved
64 populations in the community.
65 (d) The availability of private or public matching funds,
66 or in-kind contributions, for the requested grant funds.
67 (5) ALLOWABLE USES OF FUNDS.—Grant awards may be used only
68 for hospital medical equipment purchases or facility
69 infrastructure improvements in the rural area serviced by the
70 grantee.
71 (6) REPORT.—The department shall provide an annual report
72 to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of
73 the House of Representatives which includes the list of grantees
74 and, for each grantee, the amount awarded, a brief description
75 detailing what the funds will be used for, the anticipated
76 outcomes to be achieved, and the return on investment to the
77 taxpayers of this state. There is established a rural hospital
78 capital improvement grant program.
79 (1) A rural hospital as defined in s. 395.602 may apply to
80 the department for a grant. The grant application must provide
81 information that includes:
82 (a) A statement indicating the problem the rural hospital
83 proposes to solve with the grant funds;
84 (b) The strategy proposed to resolve the problem;
85 (c) The organizational structure, financial system, and
86 facilities that are essential to the proposed solution;
87 (d) The projected longevity of the proposed solution after
88 the grant funds are expended;
89 (e) Evidence of participation in a rural health network as
90 defined in s. 381.0406;
91 (f) Evidence that the rural hospital has difficulty in
92 obtaining funding or that funds available for the proposed
93 solution are inadequate;
94 (g) Evidence that the grant funds will assist in
95 maintaining or returning the hospital to an economically stable
96 condition or that any plan for closure or realignment of
97 services will involve development of innovative alternatives for
98 the discontinued services;
99 (h) Evidence of a satisfactory record-keeping system to
100 account for grant fund expenditures within the rural county;
101 (i) A rural health network plan that includes a description
102 of how the plan was developed, the goals of the plan, the links
103 with existing health care providers under the plan, indicators
104 quantifying the hospital’s financial well-being, measurable
105 outcome targets, and the current physical and operational
106 condition of the hospital.
107 (2) Each rural hospital as defined in s. 395.602 shall
108 receive a minimum of $100,000 annually, subject to legislative
109 appropriation, upon application to the Department of Health, for
110 projects to acquire, repair, improve, or upgrade systems,
111 facilities, or equipment.
112 (3) Any remaining funds shall annually be disbursed to
113 rural hospitals in accordance with this section. The Department
114 of Health shall establish, by rule, criteria for awarding grants
115 for any remaining funds, which must be used exclusively for the
116 support and assistance of rural hospitals as defined in s.
117 395.602, including criteria relating to the level of
118 uncompensated care rendered by the hospital, the participation
119 in a rural health network as defined in s. 381.0406, and the
120 proposed use of the grant by the rural hospital to resolve a
121 specific problem. The department must consider any information
122 submitted in an application for the grants in accordance with
123 subsection (1) in determining eligibility for and the amount of
124 the grant, and none of the individual items of information by
125 itself may be used to deny grant eligibility.
126 (4) The department shall ensure that the funds are used
127 solely for the purposes specified in this section. The total
128 grants awarded pursuant to this section shall not exceed the
129 amount appropriated for this program.
130 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.