House Bill 0357er

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    1999 Legislature                      HB 357, Second Engrossed



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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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    1999 Legislature                      HB 357, Second Engrossed



  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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    1999 Legislature                      HB 357, Second Engrossed



  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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    1999 Legislature                      HB 357, Second Engrossed



  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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