Senate Bill sb2426
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
By Senator Cowin
11-1404-02
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to state university boards of
3 trustees; amending s. 240.213, F.S.; describing
4 powers and duties of boards of trustees to
5 procure liability insurance; deleting
6 provisions relating to the Board of Regents;
7 amending s. 766.112, F.S.; prescribing
8 applicability of provisions relating to
9 comparative fault to boards of trustees;
10 amending s. 768.28, F.S.; providing venue in
11 actions brought against boards of trustees;
12 providing applicability of provisions relating
13 to waiver of sovereign immunity to boards of
14 trustees; amending s. 240.215, F.S.; providing
15 for payment of costs in civil actions against
16 employees, officers, agents, and members of
17 boards of trustees; amending s. 240.513, F.S.;
18 providing organization and governance of the J.
19 Hillis Miller Health Center; amending s.
20 240.5135, F.S.; providing authority of the
21 University of Florida board of trustees with
22 respect to procurement of insurance for Shands
23 Jacksonville Healthcare, Inc.; amending s.
24 626.852, F.S.; providing inapplicability of
25 provisions relating to insurance adjusters to
26 employees and agents of a board of trustees;
27 amending s. 627.912, F.S.; requiring certain
28 reports with respect to actions for damages
29 caused by employees or agents of a board of
30 trustees; providing an effective date.
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
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1 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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3 Section 1. Section 240.213, Florida Statutes, is
4 amended to read:
5 240.213 Boards of trustees Board authorized to secure
6 liability insurance.--
7 (1) A board of trustees of a state university The
8 Board of Regents is authorized to secure, or otherwise provide
9 as a self-insurer, or by a combination thereof, comprehensive
10 general liability insurance, including professional liability
11 for health care and veterinary sciences, for:
12 (a) The board of trustees.
13 (b) The officers and members of the board of trustees
14 students and faculty of any university within the State
15 University System.
16 (c) The faculty and other officers, employees and, or
17 agents of the board of trustees.
18 (d) The students of a state university professional
19 practitioners practicing a profession within, or by virtue of
20 employment by, any university in the State University System.
21 (e) A state university or any college, school,
22 institute, center, or program thereof Any of the universities
23 in the State University System or subdivisions thereof.
24 (f) Any not-for-profit corporation organized pursuant
25 to chapter 617, and the directors, officers, employees, and
26 agents thereof, which is affiliated with a state university in
27 the State University System, if the corporation is operated
28 for the benefit of the a state university in a manner
29 consistent with the best interests of the state, and if such
30 participation is approved by a self-insurance program the
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
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1 appropriate insurance trust fund council, university
2 president, and the board of trustees Regents.
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4 The Board of Regents is authorized to delegate to the
5 universities, as appropriate, the authority to secure any
6 liability insurance for the above.
7 (2) In the event a the board of trustees Regents
8 adopts a self-insurance program, a governing council chaired
9 by the vice president for health affairs or his or her
10 academic equivalent shall be established to administer the
11 program and its duties and responsibilities, including the
12 administration of self-insurance program assets and
13 expenditure policies, which shall be defined in rules as
14 authorized by this section. The council shall have an annual
15 actuary review performed to establish funding requirements to
16 maintain the fiscal integrity of the self-insurance program.
17 the necessary trust funds in the State Treasury may be
18 established pursuant to law. Provided that the annual
19 actuarial report to the self-insurance trust fund council is
20 provided each year to the Auditor General within 60 days after
21 acceptance by the council, The assets of a self-insurance
22 program shall may be deposited outside the State Treasury and,
23 at the option of the Board of Regents, in accounts established
24 pursuant to law for that purpose. Self-insurance program trust
25 funds shall be administered in accordance with rules as
26 authorized by this section established by the Board of
27 Regents.
28 (3) Any self-insurance program created under this
29 section shall be funded by the entities and individuals
30 protected by such program. There shall be no funds
31 appropriated directly to any self-insurance program insurance
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
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1 trust fund. The assets of the self-insurance program shall be
2 the property of the university board of trustees and shall be
3 used only to pay the administrative expenses of the
4 self-insurance program and to pay any claim, judgment, or
5 claims bill arising out of activities for which the
6 self-insurance program was created. Investment income that is
7 in excess of that income necessary to ensure the solvency of a
8 self-insurance program as established by a casualty actuary
9 may be used to defray the annual contribution paid into the
10 program by the entities and individuals protected by the
11 program. The Board of Regents is authorized to accept any
12 payments, receipts, gifts, or donations made for the purposes
13 of this section and deposit such funds in the appropriate
14 insurance trust fund.
15 (4) No self-insurance program adopted by a the board
16 of trustees Regents may sue or be sued. The Board of Regents
17 shall pay, out of the assets of a trust fund established
18 pursuant to this section, any claim or judgment for which the
19 self-insurance trust funds were created and which is rendered
20 against the board. The claims files of any such program are
21 privileged and confidential, exempt from the provisions of s.
22 119.07(1), and are only for the use of the program in
23 fulfilling its duties. Any self-insurance trust fund and
24 revenues generated by that fund shall only be used to pay
25 claims and administration expenses.
26 (5) Each self-insurance program council shall make
27 provision for an annual postaudit of its financial accounts to
28 be conducted by an independent certified public accountant in
29 accordance with rules to be adopted by the board of trustees.
30 The annual audit report must include a management letter and
31 shall be submitted to the board of trustees for review. The
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
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1 university board of trustees shall have the authority to
2 require and receive from the self-insurance program council or
3 from its independent auditor any detail or supplemental data
4 relative to the operation of the self-insurance program.
5 (6)(5) The university boards of trustees are Board of
6 Regents is authorized and empowered to make such rules as may
7 be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section,
8 including the delegation of authority, other than rulemaking
9 authority, to appropriate levels of administration within the
10 State University System.
11 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 766.112, Florida
12 Statutes, is amended to read:
13 766.112 Comparative fault.--
14 (2) In an action for damages for personal injury or
15 wrongful death arising out of medical malpractice, whether in
16 contract or tort, when an apportionment of damages pursuant to
17 s. 768.81 is attributed to a the board of trustees of a state
18 university Regents, the court shall enter judgment against the
19 board of trustees Regents on the basis of the board's such
20 party's percentage of fault and not on the basis of the
21 doctrine of joint and several liability. No amount of any
22 judgment attributed to a board of trustees shall be assessed
23 against any other party, including a codefendant of the board
24 of trustees. The sole remedy available to a claimant to
25 collect a judgment against a board of trustees damages,
26 subject to the provisions of this subsection, against the
27 Board of Regents shall be pursuant to s. 768.28.
28 Section 3. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 768.28,
29 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
30 768.28 Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions;
31 recovery limits; limitation on attorney fees; statute of
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
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1 limitations; exclusions; indemnification; risk management
2 programs.--
3 (1) In accordance with s. 13, Art. X of the State
4 Constitution, the state, for itself and for its agencies or
5 subdivisions, hereby waives sovereign immunity for liability
6 for torts, but only to the extent specified in this act.
7 Actions at law against the state or any of its agencies or
8 subdivisions to recover damages in tort for money damages
9 against the state or its agencies or subdivisions for injury
10 or loss of property, personal injury, or death caused by the
11 negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the
12 agency or subdivision while acting within the scope of the
13 employee's office or employment under circumstances in which
14 the state or such agency or subdivision, if a private person,
15 would be liable to the claimant, in accordance with the
16 general laws of this state, may be prosecuted subject to the
17 limitations specified in this act. Other than an action
18 against a state university board of trustees, which must be
19 brought in the county in which that university's main campus
20 is located, any such action may be brought in the county where
21 the property in litigation is located or, if the affected
22 agency or subdivision has an office in such county for the
23 transaction of its customary business, where the cause of
24 action accrued.
25 (2) As used in this act, "state agencies or
26 subdivisions" include the executive departments, the
27 Legislature, the judicial branch (including public defenders),
28 and the independent establishments of the state, including
29 state university boards of trustees; counties and
30 municipalities; and corporations primarily acting as
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
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1 instrumentalities or agencies of the state, counties, or
2 municipalities, including the Spaceport Florida Authority.
3 Section 4. Section 240.215, Florida Statutes, is
4 amended to read:
5 240.215 Payment of costs of civil action against
6 officers, agents, employees, or members of state university
7 the board of trustees Regents.--
8 (1) Whenever any civil action has been brought against
9 any officers, agents, employees, or members of a state
10 university board of trustees board member or employee for any
11 act or omission arising out of and in the course of the
12 performance of his or her duties and responsibilities, the
13 board of trustees Regents may defray all costs of defending
14 such action, including reasonable attorney's fees and expenses
15 together with costs of appeal, and may save harmless and
16 protect such person from any financial loss resulting from the
17 lawful performance of his or her duties and responsibilities.
18 Claims based on such actions or omissions may, in the
19 discretion of the board of trustees Regents, be settled prior
20 to or after the filing of suit thereon. The board of trustees
21 Regents may arrange for and pay the premium for appropriate
22 insurance to cover all such losses and expenses.
23 (2) An employee or agent under the right of control of
24 the board of trustees Regents who, pursuant to board of
25 Regents' policies or rules, renders medical care or treatment
26 at any hospital or health care facility with which the board
27 of trustees Regents maintains an affiliation agreement whereby
28 the hospital or health care facility provides to the board of
29 trustees Regents a clinical setting for health care education,
30 research, and services, shall not be deemed to be an agent of
31 any person other than the Board of Regents in any civil action
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1 resulting from any act or omission of the employee or agent
2 while rendering said medical care or treatment. For this
3 subsection to apply, the patient shall be provided separate
4 written conspicuous notice by the board of trustees Regents or
5 by the hospital or health care facility, and shall acknowledge
6 receipt of this notice, in writing, unless impractical by
7 reason of an emergency, either personally or through another
8 person authorized to give consent for him or her, that he or
9 she will receive care provided by board of trustees' Regents'
10 employees and liability, if any, that may arise from that care
11 is limited as provided by law. Compliance by a hospital or
12 health care facility with the requirements of chapter 395 or
13 s. 766.110(1) shall not be used as evidence in any civil
14 action to establish an employment or agency relationship
15 between the hospital or health care facility and an employee
16 or agent of the board of trustees Regents providing services
17 within the hospital or health care facility.
18 (3) All faculty physicians employed by the board of
19 trustees Regents who are subject to the requirements of s.
20 456.013 shall complete their risk management continuing
21 education on issues specific to academic medicine. Such
22 continuing education shall include instruction for the
23 supervision of resident physicians as required by the
24 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The
25 boards described in s. 456.013 shall adopt rules to implement
26 the provisions of this subsection.
27 (4) The board of trustees may use There are
28 appropriated out of any funds available in the university
29 system, not subject to the obligation of contract, covenant,
30 or trust in, the amounts necessary to carry out the purposes
31 of this section.
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
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1 (5) Failure of the board of trustees Regents or an
2 affiliated health care provider to do any act authorized by
3 this section shall not constitute a cause of action against
4 the board of trustees Regents, or an affiliated health care
5 provider, or any of their members, officers, agents, or
6 employees.
7 Section 5. Subsection (1), paragraph (a) of subsection
8 (3), and subsection (4) of section 240.513, Florida Statutes,
9 are amended to read:
10 240.513 University of Florida; J. Hillis Miller Health
11 Center.--
12 (1) There is established the J. Hillis Miller Health
13 Center at the University of Florida, including campuses at
14 Gainesville and Jacksonville and affiliated teaching hospitals
15 which shall include the following colleges:
16 (a) College of Dentistry.
17 (b) College of Health Health-Related Professions.
18 (c) College of Medicine.
19 (d) College of Nursing.
20 (e) College of Pharmacy.
21 (f) College of Veterinary Medicine and related
22 teaching hospitals.
23 (3)(a) The University of Florida Health Center
24 Operations and Maintenance Trust Fund shall is hereby created,
25 to be administered by the board of trustees for the University
26 of Florida Department of Education. Funds shall be credited
27 to the trust fund from the sale of goods and services
28 performed by the University of Florida Veterinary Medicine
29 Teaching Hospitals Hospital. The purpose of the trust fund is
30 to support the instruction, research, and service missions of
31 the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine.
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
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1 (4)(a) The State Board of Education shall lease the
2 hospital facilities of the health center, known as the Shands
3 Teaching Hospital and Clinics, and consisting of Building 446
4 and parts of Buildings 204 and 205 on the campus of the
5 University of Florida and all furnishings, equipment, and
6 other chattels or choses in action used in the operation of
7 the hospital, to a private not-for-profit nonprofit
8 corporation organized solely for the purpose of operating the
9 hospital and ancillary health care facilities of the health
10 center and other health care facilities and programs
11 determined to be necessary by the board of the not-for-profit
12 nonprofit corporation. The rental for the hospital facilities
13 shall be an amount equal to the debt service on bonds or
14 revenue certificates issued solely for capital improvements to
15 the hospital facilities or as otherwise provided by law. The
16 board shall request recommendations from the Board of Regents
17 of the State University System as to the terms of the lease
18 not otherwise provided for in this act.
19 (b) The board of trustees for the University of
20 Florida shall provide in the lease or by separate contract or
21 agreement with the not-for-profit nonprofit corporation for
22 the following:
23 1. Approval of the articles of incorporation of the
24 not-for-profit nonprofit corporation by the board of trustees
25 for the University of Florida Regents and the governance of
26 the not-for-profit nonprofit corporation by a board of
27 directors appointed by the President of the University of
28 Florida and chaired by the Vice President for Health Affairs
29 of the University of Florida.
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1 2. The orderly and just transition of hospital
2 employees from state to corporate employment with the same or
3 equivalent seniority, earnings, and benefits.
4 2.3. The appropriate use of hospital facilities and
5 personnel in support of the research programs and of the
6 teaching role of the health center.
7 4. The continued recognition of the collective
8 bargaining units and collective bargaining agreements as
9 currently composed and recognition of the certified labor
10 organizations representing those units and agreements.
11 5. The use of hospital facilities and personnel in
12 connection with research programs conducted by the health
13 center.
14 3.6. Reimbursement to the hospital for indigent
15 patients, state-mandated programs, underfunded state programs,
16 and costs to the hospital for support of the teaching and
17 research programs of the health center. Such reimbursement
18 shall be appropriated to either the health center or the
19 hospital each year by the Legislature after review and
20 approval of the request for funds.
21 7. The transfer of funds appropriated for and
22 accumulated from the operation of the hospital to the health
23 center to be used to fund contracts for services with the
24 hospital.
25 (c) The board of trustees for the University of
26 Florida may, with the approval of the Legislature, increase
27 the hospital facilities or remodel or renovate them, provided
28 that the rental paid by the hospital for such new, remodeled,
29 or renovated facilities is sufficient to amortize the costs
30 thereof over a reasonable period of time or fund the debt
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1 service for any bonds or revenue certificates issued to
2 finance such improvements.
3 (d) The board of trustees for the University of
4 Florida Regents is authorized to provide to the not-for-profit
5 nonprofit corporation leasing the hospital facilities, and its
6 not-for-profit subsidiaries, comprehensive general liability
7 insurance including professional liability from a the
8 self-insurance program trust fund established pursuant to s.
9 240.213.
10 (e) In the event that the lease of the hospital
11 facilities to the not-for-profit nonprofit corporation is
12 terminated for any reason, the board of trustees for the
13 University of Florida Regents shall resume management and
14 operation of the hospital facilities. In such event, the
15 Administration Commission is authorized to appropriate
16 revenues generated from the operation of the hospital
17 facilities to the board of trustees for the University of
18 Florida Regents to pay the costs and expenses of operating the
19 hospital facility for the remainder of the fiscal year in
20 which such termination occurs.
21 Section 6. Section 240.5135, Florida Statutes, is
22 amended to read:
23 240.5135 Shands Jacksonville Healthcare, Inc.; board
24 of trustees Regents authorized to provide insurance.--The
25 board of trustees for the University of Florida Regents is
26 authorized to provide to Shands Jacksonville Healthcare, Inc.,
27 and its not-for-profit subsidiaries and affiliates and any
28 successor corporation that acts in support of the board of
29 trustees Regents, comprehensive general liability coverage,
30 including professional liability, from the self-insurance
31 programs established pursuant to s. 240.213.
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Florida Senate - 2002 SB 2426
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1 Section 7. Subsection (5) of section 626.852, Florida
2 Statutes, is amended to read:
3 626.852 Scope of this part.--
4 (5) This part does not apply to any employee or agent
5 of a state university the board of trustees Regents providing
6 services in support of any self-insurance program created
7 under s. 240.213 adopted by such Board of Regents.
8 Section 8. Subsection (5) of section 627.912, Florida
9 Statutes, is amended to read:
10 627.912 Professional liability claims and actions;
11 reports by insurers.--
12 (5) Any self-insurance program established under s.
13 240.213 shall report in duplicate to the Department of
14 Insurance any claim or action for damages for personal
15 injuries claimed to have been caused by error, omission, or
16 negligence in the performance of professional services
17 provided by a state university the board of trustees Regents
18 through an employee or agent of the board of trustees Regents,
19 including practitioners of medicine licensed under chapter
20 458, practitioners of osteopathic medicine licensed under
21 chapter 459, podiatric physicians licensed under chapter 461,
22 and dentists licensed under chapter 466, or based on a claimed
23 performance of professional services without consent if the
24 claim resulted in a final judgment in any amount, or a
25 settlement in any amount. The reports required by this
26 subsection shall contain the information required by
27 subsection (3) and the name, address, and specialty of the
28 employee or agent of a the board of trustees Regents whose
29 performance or professional services is alleged in the claim
30 or action to have caused personal injury.
31 Section 9. This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.
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2 SENATE SUMMARY
3 Imposes several powers and responsibilities relating to
insurance and tort liability and formerly applicable to
4 the Board of Regents on state university boards of
trustees. Provides for the organization and structure of
5 the J. Hillis Miller Health Center. (See bill for
details.)
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