House Bill 1605

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1605

        By Representative Crady






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to Baker County; providing for

  3         codification of special laws regarding special

  4         districts pursuant to chapter 97-255, Laws of

  5         Florida, relating to Baker County Hospital

  6         District and Baker County Hospital Authority;

  7         codifying and reenacting chapter 28887, Laws of

  8         Florida, 1953, chapter 30563, Laws of Florida,

  9         1955, chapter 59-1062, Laws of Florida, chapter

10         63-1108, Laws of Florida, and chapter 92-266,

11         Laws of Florida; providing for the operation of

12         a skilled nursing facility and outpatient

13         medical facility; providing for directors to

14         remain in office pending the appointment of a

15         replacement by the Governor; establishing

16         certain powers and responsibilities of the

17         authority; providing for certain financial

18         procedures of the authority; constituting the

19         authority as an independent special district

20         and providing for levy and collection of ad

21         valorem taxation within the district;

22         appropriating a portion of pari-mutuel revenues

23         for the purposes of the authority; providing

24         that all authority property shall be exempt

25         from taxation of every kind; repealing section

26         2A, chapter 28887, Laws of Florida, 1953, as

27         amended, relating to the building, erecting,

28         equipping, maintaining, and operating of a

29         geriatric center; providing for construction of

30         the act; providing for repeal of special acts

31         relating to the Baker County Hospital District

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  1         and Baker County Hospital Authority; providing

  2         an effective date.

  3

  4  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  5

  6         Section 1.  Chapter 28887, Laws of Florida, as amended,

  7  is codified, reenacted, amended, and repealed as herein

  8  provided.

  9         Section 2.  The Baker County Hospital District and

10  Baker County Hospital Authority are re-created and reenacted

11  to read:

12         Section 1.  The entire area embraced within the

13  boundaries or limits of Baker County is declared to be and is

14  established as a public hospital district, to be known as

15  Baker County Hospital District, for the purpose of building,

16  equipping, maintaining, and operating a hospital, geriatric

17  and skilled nursing facility, and outpatient medical care

18  facility within the county for the use and benefit of citizens

19  and residents of Baker County and the extension, when

20  available and feasible, of such care to patients from other

21  and adjoining counties and states.

22         Section 2.  There is created a public, nonprofit

23  authority, which is designated as Baker County Hospital

24  Authority, for the purpose of erecting, building, equipping,

25  maintaining, and operating within the Baker County Hospital

26  District, a hospital, geriatric and skilled nursing facility,

27  and outpatient medical care facility; and authority is hereby

28  given to the authority to build, erect, equip, maintain, and

29  operate such facilities in Baker County. The authority is

30  further authorized, when services are available without injury

31  or deprivation to the citizens and residents of Baker County,

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  1  to extend the use of such facilities to patients from

  2  adjoining and other counties and states, upon the payment of

  3  the cost of the use of such facilities.  However, at all times

  4  and in all cases, preference in use and services may be given

  5  to any patient or patients who may apply who are citizens or

  6  residents of Baker County; and the purposes of such facility

  7  are hereby declared to be public purposes.

  8         Section 3.  The directors of the Baker County Hospital

  9  Authority shall consist of five appointed by the Governor for

10  terms of 4 years, except unexpired terms in which case the

11  appointment shall be to the end of such unexpired term only.

12  Upon failure of any person to accept within 30 days after

13  appointment the Governor shall make another appointment. Any

14  director whose term has expired shall remain in office until a

15  replacement is appointed by the Governor. Each member of the

16  authority shall be a citizen and resident of Baker County and

17  be of good character and reputation. No person shall be a

18  member of the authority who is engaged in the practice of

19  medicine or is interested directly or indirectly in any drug

20  business or who holds any of the following offices: clerk of

21  circuit court, sheriff, county judge, superintendent of public

22  instruction, property appraiser, tax collector, state senator,

23  or state representative.

24         Section 4.  The Baker County Hospital Authority shall:

25         (a)  Have perpetual existence.

26         (b)  Be entirely a nonprofit entity, its net earnings

27  to be used solely for its stated purposes herein.

28         (c)  May contract and be contracted with, and may sue

29  and be sued, but the authority shall not be liable for any

30  negligence of any of its officers, agents, or employees,

31  including doctors and surgeons and nurses who may be engaged

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  1  in work at or about the facilities and shall not be liable for

  2  any tort committed by any officer, agent, or employee of the

  3  authority.

  4         (d)(1)  The members of the authority shall have

  5  complete charge of all business and property of the authority,

  6  to the same extent and with the same general powers usually

  7  given to directors of a private corporation; and a majority of

  8  said members shall at any regular or called meeting constitute

  9  a quorum; and they shall have power to adopt and promulgate

10  bylaws, and rules and regulations for the management of the

11  authority and the operation and management of the facilities

12  owned by the authority; to employ and discharge all persons

13  who may be employed by the authority; and to fix their

14  salaries; to receive and disburse for its purposes as herein

15  authorized all moneys appropriated to and paid over to the

16  Baker County Hospital Authority, to accept gifts, donations,

17  and grants from the Federal Government or otherwise, for

18  purposes of the authority, including grants of land and

19  donations of money and other property, title to all such real

20  and personal property shall vest in the authority and when

21  deemed by them necessary and advisable, they may sell such

22  property as may be donated and/or acquired and which is not

23  needed for purposes of the authority; to employ and discharge

24  such employees, as in their judgment may be needed for the

25  purposes of the authority.

26         (2)  The authority shall have the power to establish

27  such reasonable charges to be made to patients or their

28  families or to persons legally responsible for the treatment

29  of such patients, as the authority shall determine necessary

30  for the maintenance and operation of its facilities, and for

31  the accomplishment of the maximum good of the people of Baker

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  1  County; and the authority shall have the power to sue for and

  2  collect all amounts which may reasonably be charged to

  3  patients or others responsible for them.

  4         (e)  The authority shall be and have all the powers of

  5  a public body corporate and politic, to establish, acquire,

  6  own, and operate its hospital, geriatric, and other

  7  facilities, to lease such facilities for operation and to

  8  delegate to said lessee such of its rights hereunder as shall

  9  be in the opinion of the authority necessary for the operation

10  of the leased facilities; to provide health care services

11  determined by the authority to be in the best interest of the

12  persons utilizing such facilities and services; to do and

13  perform any and all acts or services that may be incidental or

14  necessary to carry out those purposes or intended to improve

15  the physical or mental health of the persons utilizing such

16  facilities and services; to form, contribute to, and

17  participate in all manner of alliances and organizations

18  involved in the delivery, marketing, sale, and payment of

19  health care services; and to engage in any lawful act or

20  activity in which a not-for-profit corporation providing

21  health care services may engage under the laws of Florida,

22  including by way of example and not limitation, the power, the

23  exercise of which is declared to be for a public purpose:

24         (1)  To have perpetual existence as a body politic and

25  corporate.

26         (2)  To adopt and use, and prescribe the use of, a

27  common seal and one or more service marks, and to alter the

28  same at pleasure.

29         (3)  To contract and enter agreements with public and

30  private entities.

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  1         (4)  To acquire, purchase, hold, develop, improve,

  2  modify, lease as lessee or lessor, and convey such real and

  3  personal property as the authority may deem proper or

  4  expedient to further the purposes of this act, as amended.

  5         (5)  To borrow money, incur indebtedness and, by

  6  resolution of the authority, to issue notes, revenue

  7  certificates, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness

  8  payable from revenues, lease participations, or legally

  9  available funds of the authority, and to fund or refund the

10  same, all upon such terms and conditions and containing such

11  provisions as shall be approved by the authority.

12         (6)  To borrow money and, by resolution of the

13  authority, issue anticipation notes payable from the

14  anticipated proceeds of bonds, notes, certificates, lease

15  participations, revenues, grants, agreements with public or

16  private entities, or legally available funds of the authority,

17  and to fund or refund the same, all upon such terms and

18  conditions and containing such provisions as shall be approved

19  by the authority.

20         (7)  To establish and authorize a medical staff to

21  direct and control medical staff and allied health

22  practitioners with privileges to perform professional services

23  in the hospital and other facilities operated by the

24  authority. The authority may establish bylaws, rules, and

25  regulations governing the organization of such medical staff;

26  the selection, appointment, and reappointment of such medical

27  staff members; the selection, credentialing, and

28  recredentialing of allied health practitioners; the

29  disciplining or removal of medical staff members and allied

30  health practitioners; the delimitation of medical staff and

31  allied health privileges; the professional and administrative

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  1  duties of members of the medical staff; and such other matters

  2  as the authority may address so that the health and well-being

  3  of patients and the best interests of the hospital and other

  4  facilities authorized pursuant to this act may at all times be

  5  served.

  6         (8)  To enter into arrangements with other public or

  7  private hospitals or entities to provide for the cooperative

  8  sharing of facilities and other resources, as well as to

  9  provide for the merger or consolidation of hospitals or

10  facilities into the authority's facilities, in order to

11  improve the quality of patient care in Baker County and

12  neighboring counties, achieve higher utilization of resources,

13  improve cost control measures, avoid unnecessary duplication

14  of resources within those counties, and help make it possible

15  for residents of those counties to obtain and afford the

16  benefits of technological and scientific improvements in

17  hospital care and services.

18         (9)  To engage in, and pay from its funds those

19  expenses of the type normally incurred in, the establishment,

20  acquisition, operation, repair, maintenance, expansion, and

21  diversification of an integrated system for the delivery of

22  physical, emotional, mental or other health care services,

23  consisting of, without limitation, hospitals, clinics, health

24  maintenance organizations, ambulatory care facilities, nursing

25  homes and congregate and assisted living facilities, home

26  health providers, hospice facilities, managed care

27  organizations and facilities, other alternative delivery

28  systems now or hereafter conceived, self-insurance and

29  risk-retention programs, captive insurance companies and

30  support organizations, and organizations and facilities

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  1  intended to prevent sickness, injury, or disease or promote a

  2  healthy lifestyle.

  3         (10)  To provide either independently or in cooperation

  4  with other public or private agencies, an appropriate location

  5  or locations for the delivery of quality hospital care and

  6  related services and treatment to patients who are determined

  7  according to criteria established or approved by the authority

  8  to be medically indigent. The authority may establish policies

  9  providing at reduced or no charge for the treatment of those

10  patients who, after reasonable inquiry, are found by the

11  hospital management to be without the means to pay in full.

12  The authority may, from time to time, establish guidelines for

13  the hospital management in making such inquiry and

14  determinations. The authority may collect from patients who

15  are found to have the means to pay such charges as the

16  authority may, in its sole discretion, from time to time

17  establish.

18         (11)  To do all things which are customarily done by

19  other hospitals, public or private, similarly situated, and

20  which will further the purposes of this act.

21         (12)  To exercise all implied powers necessary to

22  further the purposes of this act, which implied powers,

23  although not named, are expressly granted.

24

25  The express examples of powers enumerated herein shall not be

26  construed to limit or preclude the exercise of any other

27  power, express or implied.

28         Section 5.(a)  The members of the authority shall give

29  a bond for the faithful handling and accounting of all money

30  received by them, from whatever source, for the authority, and

31  for the lawful disbursement thereof, in a sum or sums

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  1  sufficient to indemnify the authority against all losses, such

  2  bond or bonds to be made payable to the authority, and the

  3  premiums for said bonds to be paid as an authority expense.

  4         (b)  Funds of the authority may be paid out only upon

  5  drafts, checks, or warrants signed by persons duly authorized

  6  by the authority to execute such instruments for purposes

  7  consistent with this act. The authority may authorize the use

  8  of facsimile signatures under conditions specified by the

  9  authority.  All funds of the authority shall be deposited in

10  banks which are qualified under state law to accept deposits

11  of public funds. The authority may deposit or invest its

12  surplus funds in interest-bearing accounts, instruments, or

13  securities, to the fullest extent permitted by general law.

14         Section 6.  The members shall serve the authority

15  without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for their

16  reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in attending to the

17  affairs and business of the authority.

18         Section 7.(a)  The authority shall be and remain an

19  independent special district with the power to levy up to but

20  not in excess of 5 mills of ad valorem taxation per year on

21  all taxable real and personal property located within the

22  boundaries of the Baker County Hospital District.

23         (b)  It shall be the duty of the property appraiser of

24  Baker County to make such assessment and the duty of the tax

25  collector to collect such assessment imposed by the authority

26  when made; and the money collected from such tax shall be paid

27  over monthly to the authority.

28         (c)  It shall be the duty of the authority to prepare a

29  budget and to determine not later than such date of each year

30  as shall enable the county tax collector to perform his or her

31  statutory duties the amount of millage, not exceeding 5 mills,

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  1  needed and required to be levied for the next ensuing fiscal

  2  year for the "Hospital Tax"; and it shall be the duty of all

  3  Baker County officials to cooperate with the authority in

  4  making available data on which such budget may be made.

  5         Section 8.  For the purpose of carrying out the

  6  provisions of this act there is hereby appropriated to the

  7  authority, the sum of the first $25,000, or any part thereof,

  8  of any and all pari-mutuel revenues in excess of $33,000

  9  annually that may be received by Baker County under the

10  provisions of chapter 550, Florida Statutes, to be used for

11  the purposes of the authority.

12         Section 9.  The members of the authority may elect one

13  of their members as chair of the authority, and the chair

14  shall exercise such powers with respect to the affairs of the

15  authority as may be given him or her by a duly adopted

16  resolution of the authority. The authority may establish such

17  other officers as deemed necessary from time to time by the

18  authority.

19         Section 10.  All property which may be acquired or

20  owned by the authority shall be exempt from taxation of every

21  kind.

22         Section 11.  The Legislature intends that the

23  provisions of this act shall be liberally construed in order

24  to accomplish the remedial purposes of this act which are to

25  give the authority a reasonable opportunity to manage and

26  develop a hospital or hospitals and other facilities in an

27  increasingly competitive and rapidly changing marketplace in

28  order to provide quality and comprehensive health care for the

29  residents of Baker County.  Where strict construction of this

30  act would result in the defeat of the accomplishment of any of

31  the purposes of this act, and a liberal construction would

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  1  permit or assist in the accomplishment thereof, the liberal

  2  construction shall be chosen. In the event any provision of

  3  this act is held to be unconstitutional or otherwise

  4  unenforceable, the remainder of this act shall continue in

  5  full force and effect and be liberally construed to advance

  6  the remedial purposes of this act.

  7         Section 12.  Nothing contained herein shall be deemed

  8  to impair the contractual obligation of the authority under

  9  any existing lease agreement or contract or to impose any

10  additional obligation on any such contracting party.

11         Section 13.  If any part, section, paragraph or

12  provision of this act should be held unconstitutional, it

13  shall not affect the constitutionality of the remainder of

14  this act.

15         Section 3.  Except as specifically reenacted herein,

16  chapter 28887, Laws of Florida, 1953, chapter 30563, Laws of

17  Florida, 1955, chapter 59-1062, Laws of Florida, chapter

18  63-1108, Laws of Florida, and chapter 92-266, Laws of Florida,

19  are repealed.

20         Section 4.  In the event any section, or provision of

21  this act is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, such

22  determination shall not affect the validity of or

23  enforceability of each other section and provision of this

24  act.

25         Section 5.  In the event of a conflict of the

26  provisions of this act, with the provisions of any other act,

27  the provisions of this act shall control to the extent of such

28  conflict.

29         Section 6.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

30  law.

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