Senate Bill sb1306

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 1306

    By Senator Pruitt





    28-728-04

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to satellite hospital

  3         facilities; amending s. 408.036, F.S.;

  4         providing an exemption from certificate-of-need

  5         review if a hospital licensed under ch. 395,

  6         F.S., transfers up to 100 acute care beds in

  7         order to establish a satellite hospital

  8         facility in the same county as the hospital's

  9         primary location; requiring the hospital to

10         meet specified criteria in order to transfer

11         the acute care beds to a satellite facility;

12         prohibiting a hospital from establishing a

13         satellite hospital facility if all the licensed

14         hospital beds in the county are owned by or

15         affiliated with the same corporation; providing

16         an effective date.

17         WHEREAS, the state has the responsibility to ensure

18  that health care is available now and in the future throughout

19  the state to all its residents, regardless of their

20  socioeconomic status or station in life, and

21         WHEREAS, many of the state's residents are underserved

22  for their health care needs and rely upon certain hospitals to

23  provide them with their health care needs, and

24         WHEREAS, the state recognizes the importance of

25  maintaining a system of hospitals throughout the state to

26  ensure that the underserved population has access to hospitals

27  when the need arises and acknowledges that these hospitals

28  serve a critical state purpose in providing this care, and

29         WHEREAS, these hospitals have historically provided

30  substantial amounts of Medicaid, charity, and uncompensated

31  

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 1306
    28-728-04




 1  care to the underserved populations, including the working

 2  poor, and

 3         WHEREAS, it is an important state interest to ensure

 4  that the hospitals continue to provide extraordinary amounts

 5  of health care services to the state's underserved

 6  populations, and

 7         WHEREAS, these hospitals have experienced a

 8  historically low census of patients with the ability to pay

 9  for the hospital's services, and

10         WHEREAS, these hospitals have been in existence for

11  many years and have become geographically place-bound with

12  little opportunity to expand beyond their current facility

13  property lines, and

14         WHEREAS, it is in the state's best interest to ensure

15  these hospitals' financial viability in order to serve an

16  essential public purpose by providing care to the underserved,

17  and

18         WHEREAS, it is in the state's interest to ensure that

19  the hospitals serving largely underserved populations have the

20  ability to broaden and increase their source of commercially

21  or other compensated care, and

22         WHEREAS, there is a need for these hospitals to offset

23  the economic burdens of being the primary source of care for

24  underserved populations, including Medicaid, charity, and

25  uncompensated care, with more and a wider variety of patients,

26  and

27         WHEREAS, these hospitals need to serve a wider segment

28  of the community to increase their census with additional

29  patients and payor groups, NOW, THEREFORE,

30  

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

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 1306
    28-728-04




 1         Section 1.  Paragraph (u) is added to subsection (3) of

 2  section 408.036, Florida Statutes, to read:

 3         408.036  Projects subject to review; exemptions.--

 4         (3)  EXEMPTIONS.--Upon request, the following projects

 5  are subject to exemption from the provisions of subsection

 6  (1):

 7         (u)  For the transfer of up to 100 acute care beds in

 8  order to establish a satellite hospital facility within the

 9  same county if the hospital licensed under chapter 395 meets

10  the following conditions:

11         1.  The hospital's census of all licensed acute care

12  beds has been below 60 percent for the 5 years prior to the

13  time it notifies the agency of its intention to establish the

14  satellite hospital facility;

15         2.  The hospital's combined gross revenue from Medicaid

16  and charity patients exceeds $60 million per year for the 2

17  years prior to the time it notifies the agency of its

18  intention to establish the satellite hospital facility;

19         3.  The satellite hospital facility meets all the

20  hospital licensure requirements under chapter 395; and

21         4.  The satellite hospital facility is limited in size

22  to the 100 licensed acute care beds transferred from the

23  existing facility.

24  

25  This paragraph does not apply if all licensed hospital beds in

26  the county are owned by or affiliated with the same

27  corporation.

28         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 1306
    28-728-04




 1            *****************************************

 2                          SENATE SUMMARY

 3    Provides an exemption from certificate-of-need review if
      a hospital licensed under chapter 395, F.S., transfers up
 4    to 100 acute care beds in order to establish a satellite
      hospital facility in the same county as the hospital's
 5    primary location. Requires a hospital to meet specified
      criteria in order to transfer the acute care beds to a
 6    satellite facility. Directs that a hospital may not
      establish a satellite hospital facility if all the
 7    licensed hospital beds in the county are owned by or
      affiliated with the same corporation.
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