House Bill 0357er
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2 An act relating to hospital meetings and
3 records; amending s. 395.3035, F.S.; defining
4 the term "strategic plan" for purposes of
5 provisions which provide for the
6 confidentiality of such plans and of meetings
7 relating thereto; providing an exemption from
8 open meetings requirements for meetings at
9 which such plans are modified or approved by
10 the hospital's governing board; providing for
11 future review and repeal; providing conditions
12 for the early release of transcripts of
13 meetings at which such plans are discussed;
14 prohibiting public hospitals from taking
15 certain specified actions at closed meetings;
16 requiring certain notice; providing a finding
17 of public necessity; providing an effective
18 date.
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20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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22 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) and
23 subsection (4) of section 395.3035, Florida Statutes, are
24 amended, present subsection (6) is renumbered as subsection
25 (9), and new subsections (6), (7), and (8) are added to that
26 section, to read:
27 395.3035 Confidentiality of public hospital records
28 and meetings.--
29 (2) The following public hospital records and
30 information of any hospital that is subject to chapter 119 and
31 s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution are confidential
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1 and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a),
2 Art. I of the State Constitution:
3 (b) A public hospital's strategic plan the disclosure
4 of which would be reasonably likely to be used by a competitor
5 to frustrate, circumvent, or exploit the purpose of the plan
6 before it is implemented and which is not otherwise known or
7 cannot otherwise be legally obtained by the competitor plans,
8 including plans for marketing its services, which services are
9 or may reasonably be expected by the hospital's governing
10 board to be provided by competitors of the hospital. However,
11 documents that are submitted to the hospital's governing board
12 as part of the board's approval of the hospital's budget, and
13 the budget itself, are not confidential and exempt.
14 (4)(a) Those portions of a board meeting at which one
15 or more the written strategic plans that are confidential
16 pursuant to subsection (2), including written plans for
17 marketing its services, are discussed, or reported on,
18 modified, or approved by the governing board are exempt from
19 the provisions of s. 286.011 and s. 24(b), Art. I of the State
20 Constitution. This paragraph is subject to the Open Government
21 Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15 and
22 shall stand repealed on October 2, 2004, unless reviewed and
23 saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.
24 (b) All portions of any board meeting which are closed
25 to the public pursuant to this subsection shall be recorded by
26 a certified court reporter. The reporter shall record the
27 times of commencement and termination of the meeting, all
28 discussion and proceedings, the names of all persons present
29 at any time, and the names of all persons speaking. No portion
30 of the meeting shall be off the record. The court reporter's
31 notes shall be fully transcribed and maintained by the
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1 hospital records custodian within a reasonable time after the
2 meeting. The closed meeting shall be restricted to discussion,
3 reports, modification, or approval of a written strategic
4 plan. The transcript shall become public 3 years after the
5 date of the board meeting or at an earlier date if the
6 strategic plan discussed, reported on, modified, or approved
7 at the meeting has been publicly disclosed by the hospital or
8 implemented to the extent that confidentiality of the
9 strategic plan is no longer necessary. If a discrete part of a
10 strategic plan has been publicly disclosed by the hospital or
11 has been implemented to the extent that confidentiality of
12 that portion of the plan is no longer necessary, then the
13 hospital shall redact the transcript and release only that
14 part which records discussion of the nonconfidential part of
15 the strategic plan, unless such disclosure would divulge any
16 part of the strategic plan that remains confidential.
17 (c) This subsection does not allow the boards of two
18 separate public entities to meet together in a closed meeting
19 to discuss, report on, modify, or approve the implementation
20 of a strategic plan that affects both public entities.
21 (6) For purposes of this section, the term "strategic
22 plan" means any record which describes actions or activities
23 to:
24 (a) Initiate or acquire a new health service;
25 (b) Materially expand an existing health service;
26 (c) Acquire additional facilities by purchase or by
27 lease;
28 (d) Materially expand existing facilities;
29 (e) Change all or a material part of the use of an
30 existing facility or a newly acquired facility;
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1 (f) Acquire another health care facility or health
2 care provider;
3 (g) Merge or consolidate with another health care
4 facility when the surviving entity is an entity that is
5 subject to s. 24, Art. I of the State Constitution;
6 (h) Enter into a shared service arrangement with
7 another health care provider; or
8 (i) Any combination of paragraphs (a)-(h).
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10 The term "strategic plan" does not include records that
11 describe the existing operations of a hospital or other health
12 care facility which implement or execute the provisions of a
13 strategic plan, unless disclosure of any such document would
14 divulge any part of a strategic plan which has not been fully
15 implemented or is a record that is otherwise exempt from the
16 public records laws. Such existing operations include, without
17 limitation, the hiring of employees, the purchase of
18 equipment, the placement of advertisements, and the entering
19 into contracts with physicians to perform medical services.
20 Records that describe operations are not exempt, except as
21 specifically provided in this section.
22 (7) If the governing board of the hospital closes a
23 portion of any board meeting pursuant to subsection (4) before
24 placing the strategic plan or any separate component of the
25 strategic plan into operation, the governing board must give
26 notice of an open meeting in accordance with s. 286.011, and
27 conduct the meeting to inform the public, in general terms, of
28 the business activity that is to be implemented. If a
29 strategic plan involves a substantial reduction in the level
30 of medical services provided to the public, the meeting notice
31 must be given at least 30 days prior to the meeting at which
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1 the governing board considers the decision to implement the
2 strategic plan.
3 (8) A hospital may not approve a binding agreement to
4 implement a strategic plan at any closed meeting of the board.
5 Any such approval must be made at a meeting open to the public
6 and noticed in accordance with s. 286.011.
7 Section 2. The Legislature finds that community
8 hospitals in this state are often the safety-net providers of
9 health care to our less advantaged residents and visitors. Yet
10 community hospitals that are subject to the public records and
11 open meeting laws of the state, unlike most agencies that
12 provide services to the public, must compete directly with
13 their private-sector counterparts. The economic survival of
14 Florida's community hospitals depends on their ability to
15 obtain revenues from services they provide in competition with
16 their private-sector counterparts. The Legislature further
17 finds that the governing boards of these hospitals do not
18 discuss, debate, or participate in the modification or
19 approval of their written strategic plans because the
20 governing boards' discussions and the records are open to the
21 public, thereby giving private-sector competitor hospitals
22 advance disclosure of the hospitals' planned strategic moves.
23 The Legislature finds that it is a public necessity that the
24 governing boards of these hospitals be involved in the
25 discussion, modification, and approval of the hospitals'
26 strategic plans. Consequently, the Legislature finds that it
27 is a public necessity that the written strategic plan of any
28 hospital which is subject to the public records laws of the
29 state, and notes and transcripts that are recorded pursuant to
30 section 395.3035(4)(c), Florida Statutes, be confidential and
31 exempt from the public records laws of this state as provided
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1 in this act. The Legislature also finds that it is a public
2 necessity that those portions of a hospital's governing board
3 meeting during which one or more written strategic plans which
4 are exempt from the open records laws are discussed, reported
5 on, modified, or approved shall be confidential and exempt
6 from the public meeting laws of this state. The Legislature
7 further finds that it is a public necessity to clarify that
8 the records and meetings of any privately operated hospital
9 which are subject to the public records law and open meetings
10 law of this state are exempt from both in the same manner and
11 to the same extent as are records and meetings of publicly
12 operated hospitals and as otherwise provided by law.
13 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
14 law.
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