ENROLLED HB 1113, Engrossed 1 2003 Legislature
   
1 A bill to be entitled
2          An act relating to Sarasota County; providing legislative
3    intent; amending, codifying, and reenacting all special
4    acts relating to the Sarasota County Public Hospital
5    District; providing District boundaries; providing for a
6    governing board; providing powers, functions, and duties
7    of the District and its governing board, including express
8    power to sell and exchange real estate; repealing chapters
9    26468 (1949), 27888 (1951), 31262 (1955), 57-1838, 59-
10    1839, 61-2807, 61-2855, 61-2868, 63-1893, 63-1895, 63-
11    1896, 63-1913, 65-2226, 65-2227, 65-2232, 67-2047, 69-
12    1583, 69-1593, 71-907, 83-525, 84-530, 85-501, 86-373, 87-
13    526, 88-534, 90-411, 90-422, 95-507, and 2000-400, Laws of
14    Florida, except for the provisions approved in referendum
15    on January 10, 1950, conferring ad valorem taxing
16    authority; ratifying actions of the District and the
17    governing board taken pursuant to chapter 69-1583, Laws of
18    Florida; providing severability; providing for
19    construction and effect; providing an effective date.
20         
21          Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22         
23          Section 1. Pursuant to section 189.429, Florida Statutes,
24    this act constitutes the codification of all special acts
25    relating to Sarasota County Public Hospital District. It is the
26    intent of the Legislature in enacting this law to provide a
27    single, comprehensive special act charter for the District
28    including all current legislative authority granted to the
29    District by its several legislative enactments, inclusive of
30    authority conferred in referenda of Sarasota County electors,
31    and any additional authority granted by this act. It is further
32    the intent of this act to preserve all District authority in
33    addition to any authority contained in general law as amended
34    from time to time.
35          Section 2. Chapters 26468 (1949), 27888 (1951), 31262
36    (1955), 57-1838, 59-1839, 61-2807, 61-2855, 61-2868, 63-1893,
37    63-1895, 63-1896, 63-1913, 65-2226, 65-2227, 65-2232, 67-2047,
38    69-1583, 69-1593, 71-907, 83-525, 84-530, 85-501, 86-373, 87-
39    526, 88-534, 90-411, 90-422, 95-507, and 2000-400, Laws of
40    Florida, are amended, codified, reenacted, and repealed as
41    herein provided.
42          Section 3. The Sarasota County Public Hospital District is
43    re-created, and the charter for such District is re-created and
44    reenacted to read:
45          Section 1. (1) The Sarasota County Public Hospital
46    District ("District”), an independent special district, is
47    hereby established with jurisdiction extending territorially
48    throughout all of Sarasota County, which territory is hereby
49    known as the Sarasota County Public Hospital District, and which
50    shall be governed by the Sarasota County Public Hospital
51    Board("Hospital Board”), as a body corporate.
52          (2) For purposes of election of Hospital Board members,
53    the Hospital Board shall create three hospital board districts
54    within the Sarasota County Public Hospital District, the
55    boundaries of which shall be within the boundaries of Sarasota
56    County, which shall be designated as northern, central, and
57    southern districts, and which shall be as nearly equal in
58    population as practicable. The Hospital Board by resolution
59    adopted from time to time, at intervals of no more than 10
60    years, shall fix the boundaries of the districts along the lines
61    of precincts as they exist at the time such boundaries are
62    fixed. A certified copy of the resolution shall be furnished by
63    the secretary of the Hospital Board to the Sarasota County
64    Supervisor of Elections at least 10 months prior to the next
65    ensuing general election following adoption of the resolution.
66          (3) The membership of the Hospital Board shall consist of
67    nine members, all of whom must be qualified electors of the
68    District. Commencing with the election of 1988, two such
69    members must reside in each of said hospital board districts.
70    All members shall be elected in a partisan election by the
71    qualified electors of the District. Two members who are
72    residents of the southern district shall be elected to district
73    seats in 1986 and every fourth year thereafter; two members who
74    are residents of the northern district shall be elected to
75    district seats in 1986 and every fourth year thereafter; one
76    member who is a resident of the central district shall be
77    elected to a district seat in 1986 and every fourth year
78    thereafter; one member who is a resident of the central district
79    shall be elected to a district seat in 1988 and every fourth
80    year thereafter; and three members shall be elected to at-large
81    seats in 1988 and every fourth year thereafter. Candidates for
82    the six district seats and the three at-large seats shall be
83    numerically or otherwise grouped for a specific seat on primary
84    or general election ballots as provided in the Florida Election
85    Code. Candidates for district seats shall be placed in
86    districts on primary and general election ballots. In any year
87    in which hospital board district seats are to be filled, the
88    hospital board district (northern, central, or southern) shall
89    be printed on the ballot beneath the name of the office. The
90    format of the ballot shall be in conformity with the Florida
91    Election Code. Four members who were elected for 4-year terms
92    in the election of November 2000 shall serve until the
93    expiration of their terms of office, and four members shall be
94    elected for 4-year terms in 2004 and each fourth year
95    thereafter. Five members who were elected for 4-year terms in
96    the election of November 2002 shall serve until the expiration
97    of their terms of office, and five members shall be elected for
98    4-year terms in 2006 and each fourth year thereafter.
99          (4) If a vacancy occurs on the Hospital Board due to a
100    member's death, resignation, removal from office for neglect of
101    duty, removal of residence from the territorial limits of the
102    county, or removal of residence from the territorial limits of
103    the district in the case of a district seat holder, the
104    remainder of the Hospital Board shall appoint a temporary member
105    to fill the vacancy until the next ensuing general election, at
106    which time a new member must be elected for the remainder of the
107    term of the member whose membership has been so vacated. To be
108    eligible for appointment to such Hospital Board, a person must
109    be a qualified elector of the territory covered by this act, and
110    if the vacancy occurs in a hospital board district seat, such
111    person must also be a resident of that district in which the
112    vacancy occurs.
113          (5) The term of office of a Hospital Board member begins
114    on the Tuesday 2 weeks following the day of general election in
115    which the member is elected. The term of office of a member's
116    immediate predecessor expires contemporaneously with the
117    commencement of the term of such newly elected member.
118          (6) Each Hospital Board member shall attend not less than
119    75 percent of the regular meetings of the Hospital Board during
120    each year of such board member's term. For purposes of this
121    subsection, the year of a board member's term commences on the
122    date, followed by the yearly anniversary of the date, upon which
123    the board member takes office. The failure of any Hospital
124    Board member to meet this attendance requirement without being
125    excused by the chair of the Hospital Board constitutes neglect
126    of duty. By resolution specifying facts sufficient to advise a
127    Hospital Board member as to the basis for his or her suspension
128    or removal and after providing the Hospital Board member with
129    reasonable notice and an informal opportunity for him or her to
130    be heard, the Hospital Board may suspend or remove from office
131    any Hospital Board member for neglect of duty. If a vacancy
132    occurs on the Hospital Board due to removal from office pursuant
133    to this subsection, the remainder of the Hospital Board shall
134    fill the vacancy in the manner set forth in subsection (4).
135          Section 2. The members of said Hospital Board shall
136    receive no salary as board members but shall be reimbursed for
137    the amount of actual expenses incurred by them in the
138    performance of their duties. Reimbursement for mileage shall
139    include mileage from members' places of residence to Hospital
140    Board facilities and return and for vicinity mileage incurred in
141    the performance of their duties and shall be computed as
142    provided in section 112.061, Florida Statutes. The travel
143    expenses, subsistence, and lodging expenses of a member may not
144    exceed those prescribed by section 112.061, Florida Statutes,
145    unless actual reasonable expenses in excess of those prescribed
146    by section 112.061, Florida Statutes, are specifically
147    authorized prior to the incurring of such expenses, by action of
148    the Hospital Board taken at a regular monthly meeting at which
149    the question of such expenses appears as a separate item on the
150    agenda.
151          Section 3. The Hospital Board shall select a meeting place
152    and a place for its principal office, and the board meetings
153    shall be held at least once a month. The Hospital Board may
154    elect one of its members to serve as secretary, one to serve as
155    assistant secretary, one to serve as treasurer, and two to serve
156    as assistant treasurers; or it may appoint persons not members
157    of the Hospital Board to serve in those capacities. There shall
158    be a chair of the board, a first vice chair, and a second vice
159    chair. The Hospital Board is authorized to establish and
160    maintain a refund account in a commercial bank of its choosing
161    and may designate the president, executive vice president, vice
162    presidents, business office manager, or controller of the
163    Hospital Board, or any of them, as the sole authorized
164    signatories for such refund account. The president appointed by
165    the Hospital Board, the chair, the first vice chair, the second
166    vice chair, the treasurer, and the assistant treasurers shall be
167    empowered to issue, without a cosignature, warrants for payment
168    of salaries and wages of employees of the Hospital Board. All
169    other vouchers and warrants shall be issued by either the
170    treasurer or assistant treasurer and shall be signed by the
171    chair, and in the event of the absence of the chair, by the
172    first vice chair, and in the event of the absence of the chair
173    and the first vice chair, by the second vice chair. The
174    Hospital Board is authorized to issue its checks, warrants, and
175    vouchers bearing facsimile signatures which are affixed by
176    check-signing machines and devices of the officers and employees
177    of the Hospital Board who are authorized to sign on its behalf.
178    Said treasurer and assistant treasurers shall give bonds, in
179    amounts to be designated by a majority vote of said Hospital
180    Board, of the faithful performance of their duties, by some
181    reputable bonding company authorized to do business in the State
182    of Florida. The said Hospital Board is authorized to pay to the
183    treasurer, assistant treasurers, secretary, and assistant
184    secretary a salary and expenses commensurate with the work done
185    and in keeping with the salary paid for like work by other
186    businesses in the community from time to time.
187          Section 4. The said Sarasota County Public Hospital Board,
188    as the governing body of the District, is hereby declared to be
189    a body corporate and it shall adopt a common seal.
190          Section 5. The duties of the secretary duly elected by
191    said Hospital Board shall be to keep full and correct minutes of
192    all proceedings and minutes of the Hospital Board. The duties
193    of the treasurer duly elected by said Hospital Board shall be to
194    keep a separate account of all expenditures and disbursements by
195    said Hospital Board and an account of all receipts.
196          Section 6. The said Hospital Board shall make and adopt
197    such bylaws, rules, and regulations for its guidance and for the
198    governance of any hospitals that may be established, as may be
199    deemed expedient for the economic and equitable conduct thereof,
200    and shall have exclusive control of the expenditures of all
201    moneys collected or paid to the secretary of the Hospital Board,
202    and shall have power to purchase a site or sites, and to
203    construct any hospital building or buildings necessary, and
204    shall have full supervision, care, and custody of all properties
205    belonging to said Sarasota County Public Hospital Board, or
206    leased to it, or set apart to it for its purposes. Said
207    Hospital Board shall also have the right to buy at a reasonable
208    price any buildings or hospitals which may be now in use and
209    suitable for the purposes of said Board.
210          Section 7. All moneys and receipts for such hospital or
211    hospitals and other health care services, if any, shall be
212    deposited in a bank or banks designated by said Hospital Board
213    and placed to the credit of said Hospital Board. Such moneys
214    may be paid out in the same manner as provided in section 3,
215    without an order from said Hospital Board, for general operating
216    expenses including, but not limited to, such categories of
217    expense as drugs, food, fuel, linens, supplies, laundry,
218    medicines, salaries, wages, utilities, and items of equipment;
219    for capital expenses for land, buildings, and equipment; and for
220    other valid corporate purposes. The Hospital Board is empowered
221    to adopt resolutions or to adopt provisions in its bylaws from
222    time to time which establish a procedure which requires the
223    approval and order of the Hospital Board for the payment of any
224    of the foregoing designated categories of expense which exceed a
225    dollar amount or which meet any other expense criteria as
226    established in such Hospital Board resolutions or bylaws. When
227    such items requiring board approval have been approved by the
228    Hospital Board in regular session and a voucher issued, a
229    warrant may be drawn for same.
230          Section 8. A majority of said Hospital Board shall
231    constitute a quorum for the transaction of its business, and
232    said Hospital Board shall be and is hereby authorized and
233    empowered:
234          (1) To appoint a suitable president, fix his or her
235    compensation, remove any such appointee, and authorize the
236    president to do all things reasonable and necessary to direct
237    the operations and activities of facilities owned or operated by
238    the Hospital Board.
239          (2) To acquire by purchase, gift, or otherwise real and
240    personal property necessary or useful for the construction,
241    operation, and maintenance of hospital buildings and other
242    buildings necessary, in the opinion of the Hospital Board, for
243    health care purposes; to sell or exchange real estate or any
244    interest in real estate; and to construct hospitals, health
245    facilities which may include outpatient health facilities and
246    medical offices, and buildings and accessories incidental
247    thereto on such real estate, and, if such construction occurs
248    within the Memorial Hospital Core as defined by the
249    Comprehensive Plan of the City of Sarasota, to do so without
250    regard to municipal and county zoning ordinances, laws, and
251    regulations.
252          (3) To adopt from time to time resolutions requesting the
253    Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota County to call
254    elections in the District for the purpose of submitting to the
255    qualified electors in the District the question of issuing bonds
256    of the District for the purpose of acquiring a site or sites,
257    the construction thereon of a hospital or hospitals and
258    buildings incidental thereto, and to improve buildings or
259    buildings and the furnishings and equipping of any such hospital
260    or hospitals and buildings. Said Hospital Board may adopt such
261    resolutions on its own initiative and shall adopt such
262    resolutions upon the filing with it of a petition signed by not
263    less than 5 percent of the qualified electors of the District
264    requesting the Hospital Board to adopt such resolutions. Upon
265    the adoption of such resolution by the Hospital Board, it shall
266    be the duty of the Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota
267    County to forthwith adopt a resolution or resolutions which
268    order an election to be held in such county and provide for the
269    date of such elections and the publication of notices thereof,
270    all in the form and manner provided by law.
271          (4) To issue negotiable coupon bonds of the District, from
272    time to time, if approved by a majority of the votes cast in an
273    election by the qualified electors of the District, bearing
274    interest at such rate or rates not exceeding 6 percent per
275    annum, maturing at such time or times not exceeding 30 years
276    from the date thereof, and redeemable at such times and at such
277    price or prices, all as said Hospital Board may determine by
278    resolution, and to sell such bonds at public or private sale and
279    for such price, not less than 95 percent of the par value
280    thereof, as said county Hospital Board may by resolution
281    determine.
282          (5) To supervise, operate, and maintain all properties
283    belonging to it.
284          (6) To enter into contracts or leases with any individual,
285    corporation, public body, board of commissioners, the State of
286    Florida, Sarasota County, or any municipality, or agency or
287    instrumentality of said state, county, or municipality, with
288    respect to the use of any of the property belonging to the
289    Hospital Board by any thereof.
290          (7) To borrow money from any person, firm, association,
291    corporation, or governmental agency necessary for the purpose of
292    purchasing property, constructing buildings, equipping the
293    hospital or hospitals or other health facilities owned or
294    operated by the Hospital Board, and maintaining said hospital or
295    hospitals or other health facilities, from time to time as may
296    be necessary in properly carrying out the spirit and purpose of
297    this act, and as evidence thereof to make, execute, and deliver
298    promissory notes or other evidences of other indebtedness; and,
299    to the extent permitted by the Florida Constitution and general
300    laws, to secure the payment of same by mortgages, liens, and
301    other kinds of security upon any property owned or held by the
302    Hospital Board.
303          (8) To certify to the Board of County Commissioners of
304    Sarasota County the amount of the principal and interest upon
305    bonds issued by the Hospital Board and falling due in which any
306    such principal or interest may be payable and the amount
307    necessary to be raised in the District for the purposes of
308    providing a fund sufficient in the opinion of the Hospital Board
309    to pay the cost of operating and maintaining properties of the
310    Hospital Board in each year. In the event bonds shall be issued
311    under the provisions of this act, it shall be the duty of the
312    Hospital Board to certify such facts in writing to the Board of
313    County Commissioners within 30 days after the delivery of such
314    bonds and on or before the expiration of each 12-month period
315    thereafter, and it shall be the duty of the Board of County
316    Commissioners to levy upon all taxable property in the District
317    and collect a tax sufficient to provide funds for the payment of
318    the principal and the interest upon such bonds as such principal
319    and the interest upon such bonds fall due and a tax, not to
320    exceed 2 mills on assessed valuation of property in the
321    District, to provide funds for the operation, maintenance, and
322    repair of and for the making of alterations and additions to any
323    hospitals established by the Hospital Board under the provisions
324    of this act. The proceeds of all such taxes shall be paid over
325    to the secretary and treasurer of the District as such taxes are
326    received.
327          (9) To certify to the Board of County Commissioners of
328    Sarasota County, on or before the 15th day of each month
329    commencing with the month of November 1959, a list of all the
330    medically indigent persons who have been hospitalized in any of
331    the hospitals which are operated by the Hospital Board during
332    the preceding month, together with the itemized charges for the
333    hospital services and care for each of said medically indigent
334    persons which have been rendered in such preceding month by the
335    said hospital. The Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota
336    County shall, within 45 days after the receipt of such certified
337    list of medically indigent patients with the hospital charges,
338    make remittance to the treasurer of the Hospital Board of the
339    sum total of the amount shown on the certified list to be the
340    amount owing to the Hospital Board for the hospital services and
341    care rendered to the medically indigent persons during the month
342    embraced in said certification.
343          The Hospital Board shall give written notice to the Welfare
344    Department of Sarasota County of the proposed admission of each
345    medically indigent person to hospitals operated by said Hospital
346    Board, prior to the actual admission of each such medically
347    indigent person, provided, however, that notice to said Welfare
348    Department prior to the admission of a medically indigent person
349    shall not be required in emergency cases.
350          The said Board of County Commissioners shall in like manner
351    reimburse any other hospital in Sarasota County, approved by the
352    State Board of Health, for hospital services rendered to
353    medically indigent persons as herein defined, upon like
354    certification by such hospital and at such rates as shall not
355    exceed those prescribed for such patients by hospitals owned and
356    operated by said Hospital Board.
357          The term "medically indigent person," as used in this act,
358    shall be deemed to mean an inhabitant of Sarasota County who is
359    ill or injured and who requires treatment in a hospital as
360    prescribed and ordered by a physician and who is unable to
361    provide himself or herself with such necessary hospital
362    services.
363          (10) To expend hospital funds and withhold employees'
364    wages in order to make payment (including any amount paid for
365    insurance and annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such
366    payment) to or on behalf of an employee of the Hospital Board or
367    any of his or her dependents under any plan or system
368    established by the Hospital Board, when such payment is on
369    account of (a) retirement; (b) sickness or accident
370    disability;(c) medical or hospitalization expenses in connection
371    with sickness or accident disability; or (d) death.
372          (11) To expend funds and provide facilities and personnel
373    to conduct formal and informal courses of instruction,
374    demonstration, and education through hospitals under its
375    jurisdiction relating to hospital procedures, services, and care
376    and the operation and care of apparatus and equipment utilized
377    in connection with usual hospital functions, and to authorize
378    the participation in such courses with private or other
379    governmental agencies; and to award scholarship grants and make
380    scholarship loans to qualified students of nursing, X-ray
381    technology, and other hospital-related fields of study in
382    consideration for the promises of such students to enter the
383    employment of said Hospital Board and to meet other conditions
384    and requirements to be established by said Hospital Board from
385    time to time.
386          (12) To provide hospital and other health care services
387    within the confines of facilities which are owned or operated by
388    the Board. Additionally, the Hospital Board is authorized to
389    provide hospital and other health care services within the
390    boundaries of the Hospital District but outside of facilities
391    which are owned or operated by the Board, provided that the
392    Hospital Board shall adopt a resolution or resolutions from time
393    to time defining the type and scope of hospital and other health
394    care services which the Hospital Board employees, agents, and
395    staff are authorized to render outside of the facilities of the
396    Board.
397          (13) To participate, to the extent permitted by the
398    constitution and laws of this state, as a shareholder in a
399    corporation, as a joint venturer in a joint venture, as a
400    partner in a limited partnership or a general partnership, or as
401    a member of any other lawful form of business organization which
402    provides health care or engages in activities related thereto;
403    to make or arrange for loans, contributions to capital, and
404    other debt and equity financing for the activities of such
405    corporations, joint ventures, partnerships, or other lawful
406    forms of business organization and to guarantee loans for such
407    purposes; to elect the boards of directors of its not-for-profit
408    corporations; and to utilize, for any lawful purpose, assets and
409    resources of the Hospital Board to the extent not needed for
410    health care and related activities.
411          (14) To establish a fund out of hospital revenues other
412    than those revenues derived from ad valorem taxation to promote
413    the activities of the facilities owned or operated by the
414    Hospital Board. The term "promote," as used in this subsection,
415    shall be defined in its broadest sense to include, but not be
416    limited to, advertising, the extension of hospitality or
417    entertainment, the use of news media, and the employment of
418    public relations methods. Expenditures from the fund shall be
419    limited to those determined by the Hospital Board to be
420    reasonable and necessary to encourage and develop support for
421    the facilities owned and operated by the Hospital Board. The
422    Hospital Board may adopt rules for the effective implementation
423    of this subsection.
424          (15) To compromise and settle any accounts receivable or
425    other claim for money due and owing to the hospital by persons
426    unable to pay on demand according to such terms and conditions
427    as the Hospital Board in its discretion may determine. The
428    Hospital Board is further authorized and empowered to sell,
429    assign, or convey to any person, financial institution, or
430    organization the right, title, and interest in any account
431    receivable or judgment owned by the Hospital Board by full or
432    partial payment of such account or judgments as the Hospital
433    Board in its discretion may determine.
434          (16) To establish, own, provide, or participate in health
435    maintenance organizations, in preferred provider organizations,
436    in food services, and in other health-care-related activities
437    using assets and resources of the Hospital Board to the extent
438    not needed for health care. Any of such activities may be
439    carried out by the Hospital Board through any of its forms of
440    organization authorized under this act.
441          (17) To the extent permitted by the constitution and laws
442    of this state, to establish, operate, or support subsidiaries
443    and affiliates, either for profit or not for profit, to assist
444    the Hospital Board in fulfilling its declared public purpose of
445    provision for the health care needs of the people of the
446    District; to establish or support nonaffiliated, not-for-profit
447    corporations which operate primarily within the District and
448    which have as their purposes the furtherance of the Hospital
449    Board's provision for the health care needs of the people of the
450    District; and to accomplish such establishment, operation, or
451    support of any such subsidiary, affiliate, or nonaffiliated,
452    not-for-profit corporation by means of loans of funds either
453    interest free or at low interest, leases of real or personal
454    property either rent free or for low rental, gifts and grants of
455    funds, or guarantees of indebtedness of such subsidiaries,
456    affiliates, and nonaffiliated, not-for-profit corporations. The
457    establishment, operation, or support of a subsidiary or
458    affiliate corporation or nonaffiliated, not-for-profit
459    corporation is hereby found and declared to be a public purpose
460    and necessary for the preservation of the public health and for
461    a public use and for the welfare of the Hospital Board and
462    inhabitants of the District. It is the intent of the
463    Legislature to authorize the formation of the entities described
464    in this section to further the interests of the residents of
465    Sarasota County in maintaining the financial well-being of
466    Memorial Hospital of Sarasota by providing, directly or
467    indirectly, for the delivery, financing, and support of hospital
468    and nonhospital health care services and related activities to
469    the extent consistent with the financial, patient acquisition,
470    and development needs of Memorial Hospital of Sarasota.
471          (18) In addition to any investment authorized by general
472    law, and to the extent permitted by the constitution of this
473    state, to invest any funds in its control or possession in the
474    following:
475          (a) Bankers' acceptances which are drawn upon and accepted
476    by a commercial bank which is a member bank of the Federal
477    Reserve System maintaining capital accounts in excess of 7.5
478    percent of total assets, and which member bank or its holding
479    company carries a credit rating in one of the two highest
480    alphabetical categories from at least two nationally recognized
481    debt rating agencies.
482          (b) Commercial paper of prime quality rated by at least
483    two nationally recognized debt rating agencies in the highest
484    letter and numerical rating of each agency. If not so rated,
485    such prime quality commercial paper may be purchased if secured
486    by a letter of credit provided by a commercial bank, which bank
487    or its holding company carries a credit rating in one of the two
488    highest alphabetical categories from at least two nationally
489    recognized debt rating agencies.
490          (c) Interest-bearing bonds, debentures, and other such
491    evidence of indebtedness with a fixed maturity of any domestic
492    corporation within the United States which is listed on any one
493    or more of the recognized national stock exchanges in the United
494    States and conforms with the periodic reporting requirements
495    under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such obligation
496    shall either carry ratings in one of the two highest
497    classifications of at least two nationally recognized debt
498    rating agencies or be secured by a letter of credit provided by
499    a commercial bank, which bank or its holding company carries a
500    credit rating in one of the two highest alphabetical categories
501    from at least two nationally recognized debt rating agencies.
502          (d) Negotiable direct obligations of, or obligations the
503    principal and interest of which are unconditionally guaranteed
504    by, the United States Government at the then prevailing market
505    price for such securities; and obligations of the Federal Farm
506    Credit Banks, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, or Federal
507    Home Loan Bank or its district banks, including Federal Home
508    Loan Mortgage Corporation participation certificates, or
509    obligations guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage
510    Association, or obligations of such Federal Agencies and
511    Government Sponsored Enterprises which are qualified for
512    purchase under paragraph (f); which are purchased and sold under
513    repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements.
514    Repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements may be
515    entered into only with a member bank of the Federal Reserve
516    System or primary dealer in U.S. Government Securities, which
517    member bank or primary dealer must have $100 million in capital.
518    Securities purchased or repurchased by the Hospital Board shall
519    be delivered to the Hospital Board or its agent versus payment.
520          (e) Purchase of options so as to engage in bona fide
521    hedging activities for the purpose of protecting the asset value
522    of the underlying portfolio, provided the instruments for such
523    purpose are traded on a securities exchange or board of trade
524    regulated by the Securities Exchange Commission or the Commodity
525    Futures Trading Commission.
526          (f) Negotiable direct obligations of Federal Agencies or
527    Government Sponsored Enterprises(GSE) which meet each of the
528    following criteria:
529          1. An agency or GSE with at least $10 billion in
530    outstanding debt.
531          2. A rating of at least an AA by a nationally recognized
532    securities rating agency.
533          3. A selling group of at least three nationally recognized
534    securities dealers.
535          4. Chartered by or pursuant to an Act of Congress.
536          5. Bonds issued under authority of, or pursuant to, an Act
537    of Congress.
538          6. Accepted as security for fiduciary, trust, and public
539    funds under control of the United States Government.
540          7. Eligible as collateral for Federal Reserve Bank
541    discount window transactions.
542          8. Eligible as collateral for Treasury Tax and Loan
543    accounts.
544          9. Eligible for National Bank purchase without regard to
545    statutory limitations and restrictions generally applicable to
546    investment securities.
547          10. Authority to borrow from the United States Treasury.
548          (19) In addition to other power and authority conferred by
549    this act or by general law, the Hospital Board is vested with
550    the following powers for issuance of revenue bonds of the
551    District:
552          (a) The Hospital Board is hereby authorized to provide by
553    resolution at one time or from time to time for the issuance of
554    revenue bonds of the District for the purpose of paying all or a
555    part of the cost of acquisition, construction, planning,
556    leasing, repairing, extensions to, additions, equipping, and
557    reconstruction of any hospital buildings and facilities of the
558    District. The bonds of each issue shall be dated, shall bear
559    interest at such rate or rates not exceeding 7 percent per
560    annum, shall mature at such time or times, not exceeding 40
561    years from their date or dates, as may be determined by the
562    Hospital Board, and may be made redeemable before maturity, at
563    the option of the Hospital Board, at such price or prices and
564    under such terms and conditions as may be fixed by the Hospital
565    Board prior to the issuance of the bonds. The Hospital Board
566    shall determine the form of the bonds, including any interest
567    coupons to be attached thereto, and the manner of execution of
568    the bonds and coupons, and shall fix the denominations of the
569    bonds and the place or places of payment of principal and
570    interest, which may be at any bank or trust company within or
571    without the state. In case any officer whose signature or a
572    facsimile of whose signature shall appear on any bonds or
573    coupons shall cease to be such officer before the delivery of
574    such bonds, such signature or such facsimile shall nevertheless
575    be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if he or
576    she had remained in office until such delivery. All bonds
577    issued under the provisions of this act shall have and are
578    hereby declared to have all the qualities and incidents of
579    negotiable instruments under the negotiable instruments laws of
580    the state. The bonds may be issued in coupon or in registered
581    form, or both, as the Hospital Board may determine, and
582    provisions may be made for the registration of any coupon bonds
583    as to the principal alone and also as to both principal and
584    interest, and for the reconversion into coupon bonds of any
585    bonds registered as to both principal and interest. The issuance
586    of such bonds shall not be subject to any limitations or
587    conditions contained in any other law, and the Hospital Board
588    may sell bonds in such manner at public or private sale and for
589    such price as it may determine to be for the best interest of
590    the Hospital Board, but no such sale shall be made at a price so
591    low as to require the payment of interest on the money received
592    therefor at more than 7 percent per annum, computed with
593    relation to the absolute maturity of the bonds in accordance
594    with standard tables of bond values, excluding, however, from
595    such computations the amount of any premium to be paid on
596    redemption of any bonds prior to maturity. Prior to the
597    preparation of definitive bonds, the Hospital Board may, under
598    like restrictions, issue interim receipts or temporary bonds
599    with or without coupons, exchangeable for definitive bonds when
600    such bonds have been executed and are available for delivery.
601    The Hospital Board may also provide for the replacement of any
602    bonds which shall be mutilated, destroyed, or lost.
603          (b) Bonds may be issued under the provisions of this act
604    without obtaining the consent of any commission, board, bureau,
605    or agency of the state or county and without any other
606    proceedings or the happening of any other condition or thing
607    than those proceedings, conditions, or things which are
608    specifically required by this act.
609          (c) No approval of the issuance of the revenue bonds
610    herein authorized at an election of the freeholders who are
611    qualified electors residing in the District shall be necessary
612    unless such election is required by the Constitution of the
613    State of Florida; then, and only in such event, such election
614    shall be called, noticed, and conducted and the results thereof
615    determined and declared as may be required by the general laws
616    of the state.
617          (d) The proceeds of the bonds shall be used solely for the
618    payment of the cost of the hospital facilities for which such
619    bonds shall have been authorized and shall be disbursed in the
620    manner provided in the resolution or in the trust agreement
621    authorizing the issuance of such bonds. If the proceeds of the
622    bonds of any issue shall exceed the amount required for the
623    purpose for which the same shall have been issued, the surplus
624    shall be set aside and used only for the payment of the cost of
625    additional hospital facilities or shall be deposited in the
626    sinking fund for such bonds. In the event that the actual cost
627    of the hospital facilities exceeds the estimated cost, the
628    Hospital Board may issue additional bonds to cover the
629    deficiency, subject to the same restrictions as required for the
630    original issue.
631          (e) The Hospital Board is authorized and empowered to fix,
632    charge, and collect rates, fees, and charges for the use of and
633    for the services furnished or to be furnished by any hospital
634    facilities under the supervision, operation, and control of the
635    Hospital Board in amounts sufficient, with any other funds
636    legally available therefor, first to pay the principal of and
637    the interest on any revenue bonds issued under the provisions of
638    this act, including reserves therefor, and second to pay the
639    cost of operating and maintaining such hospital facilities.
640          (f) Revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this act
641    may be payable from the revenues derived from the operation of
642    any hospital facility or combination of hospital facilities of
643    the District under the supervision, operation, and control of
644    the Hospital Board and from any other funds legally available
645    therefor. The issuance of such revenue bonds shall not
646    directly, indirectly, or contingently obligate the state,
647    Sarasota County, the Hospital Board, or the District to levy any
648    ad valorem taxes or to make any appropriations for their payment
649    or for the operation and maintenance of the hospital facilities
650    of the District.
651          (g) The Hospital Board shall not convey or mortgage any
652    hospital facility or any part thereof as security for the
653    payment of the revenue bonds.
654          (h) In the discretion of the Hospital Board, each or any
655    issue of such revenue bonds may be secured by a trust agreement
656    by and between the Hospital Board and a corporate trustee, which
657    may be any trust company or bank having the powers of a trust
658    company within or without the state. Such trust agreement may
659    pledge or assign the revenues to be received by the Hospital
660    Board. The resolution providing for the issuance of revenue
661    bonds or such trust agreement may contain such provisions for
662    protecting and enforcing the rights and remedies of the
663    bondholders as may be reasonable, proper, and not in violation
664    of law, including covenants setting forth the duties of the
665    Hospital Board in relation to the acquisition, construction,
666    improvement, maintenance, operation, repair, equipping, and
667    insurance of the hospital facilities, and the custody,
668    safeguarding, and application of all moneys. It shall be lawful
669    for any bank or trust company incorporated under the laws of
670    this state to act as such depository and to furnish such
671    indemnifying bonds or to pledge such securities as may be
672    required by the Hospital Board. Such resolution or such trust
673    agreement may restrict the individual right of action by
674    bondholders as is customary in trust agreements securing similar
675    securities. In addition to the foregoing, such resolution or
676    such trust agreement may contain such other provisions as the
677    Hospital Board may deem reasonable and proper for the security
678    of the bondholders. Except as in this act otherwise provided,
679    the Hospital Board may provide, by resolution or by trust
680    agreement, for the payment of the proceeds of the sale of the
681    revenue bonds and the revenues of the facilities to such
682    officer, board, or depository as it may determine for the
683    custody thereof, and for the method of disbursement thereof,
684    with such safeguards and restrictions as it may determine. All
685    expenses incurred in carrying out such trust agreement may be
686    treated as a part of the cost of operation of the facilities
687    affected by such trust agreement.
688          (i) The resolution or trust agreement providing for the
689    issuance of the revenue bonds may also contain such limitations
690    upon the issuance of additional revenue bonds as the Hospital
691    Board may deem proper, and such additional bonds shall be issued
692    under such restrictions or limitations as may be prescribed by
693    such resolution or trust agreement.
694          (j) The Hospital Board is hereby authorized to provide by
695    resolution for the issuance of refunding revenue bonds for the
696    purpose of refunding any revenue bonds, respectively, then
697    outstanding and issued under the provisions of this act. The
698    Hospital Board is further authorized to provide by resolution
699    for the issuance of revenue bonds for the combined purpose of
700    paying the cost of any acquisition, construction, planning,
701    leasing, extension to, addition, improving, equipping, or
702    reconstruction of a facility or facilities of the District and
703    refunding revenue bonds of the District which shall theretofore
704    have been issued under the provisions of this act and shall then
705    be outstanding. The issuance of such bonds, the maturities and
706    other details thereof, the right and remedies of the holders
707    thereof, and the rights, powers, privileges, duties, and
708    obligations of the District with respect to the same shall be
709    governed by the foregoing provisions of this act insofar as the
710    same may be applicable.
711          Section 9. If the Hospital Board and the owners of the
712    property desired by said Hospital Board for hospital purposes
713    cannot agree as to the price to be paid therefor, said Hospital
714    Board is empowered to bring condemnation proceedings against
715    said property for the purpose of condemning said property for
716    public hospital purposes, and said Hospital Board is hereby
717    authorized and empowered to employ an attorney or attorneys to
718    prosecute said condemnation proceedings. The said Hospital
719    Board is hereby given and granted the same powers as the
720    counties of this state so far as condemnation of property is
721    concerned and the same procedure shall be followed. The right
722    of eminent domain hereby granted shall be exercised in
723    accordance with the provisions of chapter 74, Florida Statutes,
724    in the same manner as therein provided for the acquiring of
725    right-of-way for the state highway system and to take title to
726    lands in fee simple absolute or such lesser estate as may be
727    specified in the declaration of taking, upon the deposit of such
728    sum as the court shall determine will fully secure and fully
729    compensate the persons lawfully entitled to compensation.
730          Section 10. Any hospital established under this act shall
731    be for the benefit of the inhabitants of said territory, but
732    said hospital may extend the privileges and use of said hospital
733    for persons residing outside of said District, upon such terms
734    and conditions as the Hospital Board may from time to time by
735    its rules and regulations prescribe. Every such person or
736    inhabitant who is not a pauper shall pay said Hospital Board a
737    reasonable compensation for occupancy, nursing, care, medicine,
738    and attendance according to the rules and regulations prescribed
739    by said Hospital Board. Each municipal corporation situated
740    within the District shall be liable to said Hospital Board for
741    occupancy, nursing, care, medicine, and attendance for prisoners
742    in the custody of any such municipal corporation who are
743    admitted to any hospital operated by said Hospital Board. Said
744    hospital always shall be subject to such rules as such Hospital
745    Board may adopt from time to time in order for said hospital to
746    render the greatest benefit to the greatest number, and said
747    Hospital Board may exclude from treatment and care any indigent
748    or paying case having a communicable or contagious disease when
749    such disease may be a detriment to the best interests of such
750    hospital or a source of contagion or infection to the patients
751    in its care, unless a separate building or ward has been
752    established for the special treatment and care of patients
753    having communicable or contagious diseases and it can properly
754    and with safety to the other patients retain such communicable
755    cases in such separate building or ward.
756          Section 11. When such hospital or hospitals are
757    established, the physicians, nurses, attendants, the persons
758    sick therein, and all other persons approaching or coming within
759    the limits of same, and all furniture or other articles used or
760    brought there, shall be subject to such rules and regulations as
761    said Hospital Board may prescribe.
762          Section 12. The Hospital Board shall organize a staff of
763    physicians and dentists, and the Hospital Board is authorized to
764    give, grant, or revoke staff membership and privileges of the
765    medical staff members for practice in the hospital or hospitals
766    maintained under this act so that the welfare and health of
767    patients and the best interests of the hospital may, at all
768    times, be best served. Membership on the medical staff of the
769    hospital or hospitals owned by the Hospital Board shall be
770    restricted to persons with the following qualifications:
771          (1) Graduates of:
772          (a) Recognized medical schools approved and accredited by
773    the American Medical Association;
774          (b) Recognized dental schools approved and accredited by
775    the American Dental Association;
776          (c) An accredited college of osteopathy who have
777    successfully completed an internship or residency for at least 1
778    academic year of supervised clinical training in a hospital
779    affiliated with a medical school approved by the Council of
780    Medical Education of the American Medical Association, or who
781    have successfully completed any equivalent program established
782    by or relating to the American Osteopathic Association; or
783          (d) A foreign medical school who meet the qualifications
784    for licensure prescribed by section 458.311 or section 458.313,
785    Florida Statutes; and
786          (2) Who are legally licensed to practice medicine,
787    osteopathy, or dentistry in the State of Florida and who are
788    qualified for membership in the Sarasota County Medical Society
789    or the Sarasota County Dental Society, and who are regularly
790    practicing physicians or dentists in the territory in which that
791    hospital or hospitals are located, and who are competent to
792    perform the work required of physicians or dentists with similar
793    privileges on the hospital staff.
794          The term "physician," as used herein, includes only
795    physicians licensed to practice medicine under the Florida
796    Medical Practice Act, chapter 458, Florida Statutes, and
797    physicians licensed to practice osteopathic medicine under
798    chapter 459, Florida Statutes.
799          Medical staff membership or professional privileges shall
800    not be denied to any applicant solely because the applicant is
801    licensed as a doctor of medicine under chapter 458, Florida
802    Statutes, as a doctor of osteopathy under chapter 459, Florida
803    Statutes, nor shall professional privileges be denied to an
804    applicant solely because the applicant is licensed as a doctor
805    of podiatry under chapter 461, Florida Statutes.
806          Any patient shall have the right to employ at his or her
807    expense his or her own physician or dentist, provided such
808    physician or dentist shall have been accorded privileges in the
809    hospital. A physician or dentist, when employed by the patient,
810    shall have exclusive charge of the care and treatment of such
811    patient, subject always to such general rules and regulations as
812    shall be established by the Hospital Board under the provisions
813    of this act. It shall be the duty of the medical staff to
814    organize in the manner prescribed by the said Hospital Board.
815          The Hospital Board is further authorized and empowered to
816    set up rules and regulations for the control of all professional
817    and nonprofessional employees of the hospital, which terms shall
818    include nurses on general duty or on private duty attending
819    patients, and all parties in the hospital, either as employees
820    or in any manner in attendance of patients.
821          Section 13. The millage necessary for the maintenance of
822    said Hospital District shall not exceed a maximum of 2 mills per
823    annum. The millage necessary to pay the interest and provide a
824    sinking fund on bonded indebtedness shall be levied separately
825    from the millage necessary for maintenance of the hospital or
826    hospitals to be constructed or purchased under the provisions of
827    this act, and the Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota
828    County shall make said levy pursuant to the provisions of
829    section 14 of this act.
830          Section 14. (1) The County Property Appraiser of Sarasota
831    County, immediately after said Hospital Board shall have been
832    appointed, shall report in writing to said Hospital Board the
833    assessed valuation on all taxable property within the limits of
834    said District as assessed valuation for taxation by said
835    Hospital Board, and said report shall be made by said Property
836    Appraiser each year thereafter immediately after the tax
837    assessment of said District for that year shall have been
838    reviewed and equalized by the Board of County Commissioners of
839    Sarasota County. Said Hospital Board shall present each year,
840    determined by resolution, the total amount to be raised by
841    taxation upon said taxable property located within said hospital
842    district for such year. The amount necessary to pay the
843    interest for sinking fund or bonded or other secured
844    indebtedness, and the amount necessary for the operation,
845    maintenance, repair, alteration, and addition, shall be stated
846    separately. Said Hospital Board shall thereupon determine the
847    rate of taxation which, when levied upon the assessed valuations
848    of all taxable property within said District, will raise the
849    sums of money theretofore determined by resolutions, as the
850    total amount to be raised for such year by taxation, and shall
851    by resolution levy and fix the rate of taxation on all property
852    in said District, the rate to be levied for operation,
853    maintenance, repair, alteration, and addition to be fixed
854    separately, and the rate for such operation, maintenance,
855    repair, alteration, and addition not to exceed 2 mills per
856    annum.
857          A certified copy of said Tax Resolution, executed by the
858    chair of said Hospital Board and attested by the secretary of
859    said Hospital Board, under its corporate seal, shall be made and
860    delivered to the Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota
861    County on or before August 1 of each year, or within 15 days
862    after receipt of the tax assessment roll from the County
863    Property Appraiser. It shall be the mandatory duty of said
864    Board of County Commissioners of Sarasota County to order and
865    direct the County Property Appraiser of Sarasota County to
866    assess and levy, and to order and direct the County Tax
867    Collector of said county to collect, the tax at the rate fixed
868    and determined by said resolution of the said Hospital Board,
869    upon all taxable property located within said District, and the
870    said levies and assessments shall be included in the tax roll
871    and warrant of said Property Appraiser of said county for each
872    fiscal year thereafter. The said Tax Collector shall collect
873    said taxes in the same manner and at the same time as state and
874    county taxes are collected and shall pay and remit the same upon
875    the collection thereof to the said Hospital Board.
876          (2) In the event the millage authorized herein be reduced
877    in the year of a revaluation as provided in section 193.03,
878    Florida Statutes, 1965, then in each and every year thereafter
879    the millage to be levied may be increased (a) by not more than
880    10 percent of what it was in the preceding year, or (b) by no
881    more than that which is required for a 10-percent increase in
882    the amount which was yielded by millage levied for such Hospital
883    District in the year immediately preceding such revaluation,
884    whichever is greater, provided that nothing herein shall be
885    construed to alter the 2-mill limitation imposed by section 13
886    hereof.
887          Section 15. The Hospital Board shall have power to
888    determine whether or not persons presented to said public
889    hospital for treatment are subject to charity and shall fix
890    charges for occupancy, nursing, care, medicine, and attendance,
891    other than medical or surgical attendance, for these persons
892    able to pay for same, as the Hospital Board may deem just and
893    proper, and all receipts therefor shall be deposited to the
894    credit of the Hospital Board.
895          Section 16. Any person or persons, firms, organizations,
896    corporations, or societies desiring to make donations of money,
897    personal property, or real estate for the benefit of any
898    hospital or hospitals erected under this act shall have the
899    right to vest title of the money, personal property, or real
900    estate so donated in said Hospital Board, to be controlled when
901    accepted by said Hospital Board, according to the terms of the
902    bequests, devises, or gifts pertaining to such property.
903          Section 17. The Hospital Board shall have the right to
904    operate or participate in a nonprofit hospital service plan
905    whereby hospital care may be furnished by the said corporation
906    or by any hospital or hospitals established by said Hospital
907    Board, and said Hospital Board may agree with the subscribers to
908    certain hospital care, and said Hospital Board and those persons
909    with whom it deals on the nonprofit hospital service plan shall
910    be exempt from provisions of the insurance laws of the State of
911    Florida pertaining to insurance which may in any way conflict
912    with the hospital service plan of said Hospital Board. When a
913    contract for hospital service has been executed, the Hospital
914    Board shall be required to render the service set forth in said
915    contract and the other party to the contract shall be required
916    to fully comply with his or her parts of said agreement.
917          Section 18. The purposes for which any hospital created
918    under the provisions of this act shall be used are hereby
919    declared to be for public purposes.
920          Section 19. The term "mill," as used in subsection (8) of
921    section 8 of this act and as used in sections 13 and 14 of
922    chapter 26468 (1949), Laws of Florida, as amended, shall be
923    deemed to mean 1/10th part of a cent, and that the application
924    of the rate of 1 mill to each $1,000 of assessed valuation of
925    property shall yield $1.
926          Section 20. The Hospital Board shall be empowered to
927    destroy any of its records together with any of the records of
928    the hospital or hospitals owned and operated by the Hospital
929    Board, provided that such records are photographed or
930    microfilmed prior to their destruction.
931          Section 21. Sarasota County Public Hospital Board is
932    authorized to construct, maintain, operate, and lease parking
933    facilities for hospital agents, employees, patients, staff
934    members, patient guests, business invitees, and the visiting
935    public in conjunction with hospitals which are under the
936    jurisdiction of the Hospital Board upon real property which is
937    presently owned or which may be subsequently acquired by the
938    Hospital Board. The Hospital Board may enter into lease or
939    franchise agreements with private persons or corporations as
940    tenants or operators of such facilities upon such terms and for
941    such periods of time as the Board may deem appropriate. The
942    Hospital Board shall hold a public hearing, after the
943    publication of a notice of such meeting in a newspaper of
944    general circulation in Sarasota County at least one time no less
945    than 10 nor more than 25 days prior to such hearing: (1) to
946    consider the establishment of rates or fees, if any, which shall
947    be charged to motorists who utilize any such hospital parking
948    facility and (2) to consider any subsequent revisions therein
949    which increase the rates or fees which shall be charged to
950    motorists who utilize the hospital parking facility. The
951    Hospital Board is authorized to pledge the income and revenues
952    derived from such leases and franchise agreements as security
953    for the repayment of loans extended to the Hospital Board as the
954    Hospital Board may deem necessary or desirable from time to
955    time. All real property used for such hospital purposes, either
956    by the Hospital Board or by its licensees and franchisees, shall
957    be exempt from ad valorem taxes of Sarasota County and of any
958    municipality in which such real estate may be located.
959          Section 22. The Tax Collector of Sarasota County shall
960    issue a special beverage license authorizing the Hospital Board
961    to sell intoxicating beverages for medicinal purposes only in
962    quantities not in excess of 2 ounces per sale, provided such
963    sales are made only to inpatients of any hospital operated by
964    the Hospital Board and only upon the prescription of a duly
965    licensed physician. The special license shall authorize the
966    Hospital Board to purchase alcoholic beverages from any duly
967    licensed manufacturer or distributor of alcoholic beverages as
968    defined in chapter 561, Florida Statutes, and all such
969    manufacturers and distributors have authority to sell alcoholic
970    beverages to the Hospital Board for resale within the
971    limitations of its special license. The Hospital shall be
972    exempt from the payment of a fee for the special license, which
973    shall be renewed annually by filing with the Tax Collector a
974    resolution by the Hospital Board requesting the renewal of the
975    license.
976          Section 23. Every individual, partnership, firm,
977    association, corporation, institution, governmental district, or
978    other governmental unit, and every combination of any of the
979    foregoing, operating a hospital or hospitals in the County of
980    Sarasota shall be entitled to and is hereby given a lien as
981    herein provided for all reasonable charges for hospital care,
982    treatment, and maintenance of ill or injured persons and the
983    charges for test, laboratory work, X rays, drugs, and other
984    items incident to such care and treatment supplied by or charged
985    to the hospital for the benefit of such ill or injured persons,
986    the total or unpaid part of which is hereafter called hospital
987    bill, which lien shall be and is hereby declared upon all causes
988    of action, suits, claims, counterclaims, and demands accruing to
989    the person or persons to or for whom such care, treatment, or
990    maintenance is furnished, or accruing to the legal
991    representatives of such persons or to the person or persons
992    incurring or liable for the hospital bill, and such lien is also
993    hereby given upon the amounts due or payable under
994    hospitalization insurance, hospital or medical expenses due and
995    payable under public liability policies, or other indemnity, and
996    upon all judgments, settlements, and settlement agreements and
997    the sums payable thereunder rendered or entered into by virtue
998    thereof, on account of illness or injuries giving rise to such
999    causes of action, suits, claims, counterclaims, demands,
1000    judgments, settlements, or settlement agreements and which
1001    necessitated or shall have necessitated or have directly
1002    contributed to the necessity for such hospital care, treatment,
1003    and maintenance, and upon proceeds of such insurance or
1004    indemnity agreements as above specified, whether the illness or
1005    injury be the result of tort or otherwise. The term "hospital
1006    care," as used in this section, shall be broadly construed to
1007    include all hospital and nonhospital health care services and
1008    related activities which are rendered through any hospital or
1009    other health care facility owned or operated by the Hospital
1010    Board or its subsidiaries or affiliates or nonaffiliated, not-
1011    for-profit corporations.
1012          (1) In order to perfect such lien, an executive officer,
1013    controller, or agent of a hospital, before or within 30 days
1014    after such person shall have been discharged from such hospital,
1015    shall file in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of
1016    Sarasota County a verified claim in writing setting forth the
1017    following: (a) the name and address of such patient, as it
1018    shall appear on the records of such hospital, and if the patient
1019    is a minor, it shall contain the name of the parents or guardian
1020    of such minor patient,(b) the name and location of such
1021    hospital, (c) the dates of admission to and discharge of such
1022    patient therefrom, (d) the amount claimed to be due for such
1023    hospital care, treatment, and maintenance, and (e) to the best
1024    knowledge of the person signing such claim, the names and
1025    addresses, if the same be known, of all persons, firms, or
1026    corporations claimed by such ill or injured person or his or her
1027    legal representative to be liable on hospital or other indemnity
1028    insurance if known to claimant; such claimant shall also, within
1029    1 day after the filing of such claim of lien, mail a copy
1030    thereof by registered or certified mail with return receipt
1031    requested, postage prepaid, to each person, firm, or corporation
1032    so claimed to be liable on account of such illness or injuries
1033    at the address so given in such statement filed by the hospital
1034    claimant. The filing of such claim shall constitute notice
1035    thereof to all persons, firms, or corporations who may be liable
1036    on account of such illness or injuries, whether or not they are
1037    named in such claim, and whether or not a copy of such claim
1038    shall have been received by them. Such statement shall not
1039    constitute a lien upon anything other than causes of action,
1040    suits, claims, counterclaims, demands, and insurance and
1041    indemnity proceeds specified in this section, and this is not a
1042    general lien upon the property of the persons named in such
1043    statement.
1044          (2) The clerk of the circuit court shall endorse on each
1045    such claim the date and hour of filing in the official records
1046    of Sarasota County or may provide a hospital lien book with
1047    proper index in which he or she shall record such claims, and
1048    shall show therein the date and hour of such filing. The clerk
1049    shall be paid by the claimant, as his or her fee for filing and
1050    recording of each claim, the same amount he or she is authorized
1051    to charge for recording mortgages.
1052          (3) The clerk shall record any satisfaction which is
1053    executed and acknowledged under oath by the lien claimant, or
1054    its executive officer, comptroller, or agent, in the official
1055    records of Sarasota County at the same filing fees which are
1056    required by the clerk for recording satisfactions of mortgages.
1057    It shall be the duty of the hospital lien claimant to furnish
1058    the patient with a properly executed satisfaction upon payment
1059    or discharge of the lien.
1060          (4) No release or satisfaction of any action, suit, claim,
1061    counterclaim, demand, judgment, settlement, or settlement
1062    agreement shall be valid or effectual as against such lien
1063    unless such lienholder shall join therein or execute a release
1064    of such lien.
1065          (5) Any acceptance of a release or satisfaction of any
1066    such cause of action, suit, claim, counterclaim, demand, or
1067    judgment and any settlement of any of the foregoing in the
1068    absence of a release or satisfaction of the lien referred to in
1069    this act shall prima facie constitute an impairment of such
1070    lien, and the lienholder shall be entitled to an action at law
1071    for damages on account of such impairment, and in such action
1072    may recover from the one accepting such release or satisfaction
1073    or making such settlement the reasonable cost of such hospital
1074    care, treatment, and maintenance. Satisfaction of any judgment
1075    rendered in favor of the lienholder in any such action shall
1076    operate as a satisfaction of the lien. Any action by the
1077    lienholder shall be brought in the court having jurisdiction of
1078    the amount of the lienholder's claim. If the lienholder shall
1079    prevail in such action, the lienholder shall be entitled to
1080    recover from the defendant all costs allowed by law, together
1081    with reasonable attorney's fees to the lienholder's attorney for
1082    handling the action. If the plaintiff or counterclaimant shall
1083    have employed an attorney for the collection of the claims or
1084    damages, including the hospital expenses, on account of or
1085    resulting from the illness or injury of said plaintiff or
1086    counterclaimant or on account of or resulting from the illness,
1087    injury, or death of a deceased patient, the court costs shall
1088    first be paid and the attorney representing such plaintiff or
1089    counterclaimant shall receive his or her fees or compensation
1090    out of the judgment or settlement proceeds and the hospital lien
1091    provided for in this act shall next be fully paid to the
1092    hospital, and the balance of the proceeds of any such settlement
1093    or judgment, if any, shall then be paid to the plaintiff or
1094    counterclaimant.
1095          (6) Upon suit being filed by the patient or on the
1096    patient's behalf, the owner or operator of the hospital, as the
1097    case may be, may also file in the suit a notice of nonpayment of
1098    hospital bill, which said notice shall be recorded and the same
1099    shall constitute a lien upon any judgment recovered or
1100    settlement made to the extent that the court may determine the
1101    hospital's pro rata share for unpaid hospital bill, based upon
1102    such equitable distribution of the amount recovered as the court
1103    may determine, less its pro rata share of all court costs
1104    expended by the plaintiff in the prosecution of the suit and
1105    less the reasonable attorney's fees for the plaintiff's
1106    attorney, such proration to be made by the judge of the trial
1107    court upon application therefor and notice to the adverse party.
1108    Such notice shall be served upon all parties to the suit, and
1109    their attorneys of record, by registered or certified mail.
1110          (7) If the hospital has given such written notice of its
1111    lien and rights against an alleged tortfeasor, a party to said
1112    suit, and thereafter settlement of any such claim or action at
1113    law is made either before or after suit is filed and the parties
1114    fail to agree on the proportion to be paid to each, the court in
1115    which the action is pending shall determine the amount to be
1116    paid to the hospital in accordance with the provisions of this
1117    law.
1118          (8) The provisions of this act shall not be applicable to
1119    accidents or injuries within the purview of the Workers'
1120    Compensation Act of this state.
1121          (9) No hospital lien provided by this act shall continue
1122    for a longer period than 5 years after the claim of lien
1123    provided for under subsections(2) and (3) has been filed, unless
1124    within that time an action has been commenced in a court of
1125    competent jurisdiction by or on behalf of the person to whom the
1126    hospital care, treatment, or maintenance was rendered to collect
1127    on account or for the illness or injuries necessitating such
1128    hospitalization; and in the event that any such action has been
1129    commenced within such 5-year period, then such hospital lien
1130    shall continue, unless otherwise satisfied, for the duration of
1131    any judgment entered in favor of the party claiming damages for
1132    the hospital care, treatment, or maintenance, and shall attach
1133    to any settlement proceeds made pendente lite and shall continue
1134    for 3 years after the date of any such settlement pendente lite.
1135          (10) The acceptance of hospital care shall be deemed and
1136    construed as a determination that hospitalization insurance was
1137    taken out for the benefit of the hospital and as an equitable
1138    assignment of the proceeds to the hospital. Unless the policy
1139    or policies are endorsed or assigned to the hospital, the
1140    hospital may write or stamp upon every statement rendered that
1141    it claims a lien upon the proceeds of all hospitalization
1142    insurance, and such legend shall be notice to any corporation
1143    into whose possession the statement comes that the hospital has
1144    a lien. In this event, payment to policyholder without
1145    settlement direct to the hospital by the insurance company will
1146    make the insurance company liable to the hospital for the amount
1147    of the bill or so much thereof as the policy indemnifies.
1148          Section 24. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law,
1149    all operations of the hospital established under the provisions
1150    of chapter 26468 (1949), Laws of Florida, shall remain under the
1151    direct control and administration of the Hospital Board
1152    established by referendum pursuant to section 21 of said
1153    chapter. The Hospital Board shall not take any action which
1154    would result in the termination of such direct control and
1155    administration unless such action is approved by the electors of
1156    Sarasota County at a referendum called for that purpose;
1157    however, for purposes of this section, the term "operations of
1158    the hospital" does not include:
1159          (1) The operation of nonhospital health care services or
1160    related activities, which services or activities may be
1161    controlled and administered by subsidiaries or affiliates of the
1162    Hospital Board or nonaffiliated, not-for-profit corporations
1163    operating primarily within the territory of the Hospital Board;
1164    or
1165          (2) The operation and provision of hospital services
1166    through any form of shared service arrangement approved by
1167    resolution of the said Hospital Board adopted in public session
1168    and wherein the Hospital Board shall be represented by two or
1169    more Hospital Board members on the governing body of such
1170    entity.
1171          Section 25. In order to secure and promote the provision
1172    of quality medical services to the public, the authority
1173    provided for herein is found by the Legislature to be within the
1174    public policy of this state. The Hospital Board is authorized
1175    to exercise all the powers granted in this act, and those
1176    granted in the Hospital Board's enabling legislation, as
1177    amended, in such manner as it may determine to be consistent
1178    with the purposes of such enabling legislation.
1179          Section 4. Chapter 26468 (1949), Laws of Florida, which
1180    was approved by Sarasota County electors in referendum held on
1181    January 10, 1950, is hereby repealed; provided, however, that,
1182    as provided in section 189.429(3), Florida Statutes, nothing in
1183    this act, including specifically this section 4, shall (i)
1184    modify, amend, or alter any covenants, contracts, or other
1185    obligations of the Hospital Board with respect to its bonded
1186    indebtedness; and (ii) affect the ability of the Hospital Board
1187    to levy and collect taxes as permitted under prior law and
1188    herein. Chapters 27888 (1951), 31262 (1955), 57-1838, 59-1839,
1189    61-2807, 61-2855, 61-2868, 63-1893, 63-1895, 63-1896, 63-1913,
1190    65-2226, 65-2227, 65-2232, 67-2047, 69-1583, 69-1593, 71-907,
1191    83-525, 84-530, 85-501, 86-373, 87-526, 88-534, 90-411, 90-422,
1192    95-507, and 2000-400, Laws of Florida, are repealed. Chapter
1193    69-1583, Laws of Florida, which was approved by Sarasota County
1194    electors in referendum conducted pursuant to such act on
1195    November 4, 1969, is reenacted, except for requirements of
1196    referendum to approve the act, and all actions heretofore taken
1197    by the Sarasota County Public Hospital District and the Sarasota
1198    County Public Hospital Board pursuant to the authority and
1199    powers conferred by chapter 69-1583, Laws of Florida, are
1200    ratified and confirmed.
1201          Section 5. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause,
1202    phrase, or other part of this act shall be declared
1203    unconstitutional, or if this act should be declared inapplicable
1204    in any case, such declaration shall not affect the remainder of
1205    this act or the applicability thereof in any other case.
1206          Section 6. This act shall be construed as remedial and
1207    shall be liberally construed to promote the purpose for which it
1208    is intended.
1209          Section 7. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.