Florida Senate - 2017 SB 510
By Senator Gainer
2-00435A-17 2017510__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to a grant program for rural
3 hospitals; amending s. 395.6061, F.S.; providing
4 legislative findings and intent; requiring the
5 Department of Health to establish and administer the
6 Florida Rural Hospital Capital Improvement Competitive
7 Grant Program for certain rural hospitals; revising
8 the amount of a grant award; revising grant
9 eligibility and preferences; establishing allowable
10 uses of funds; requiring the department to submit an
11 annual report to the Governor and the Legislature;
12 deleting requirements for certain information in grant
13 applications; deleting provisions relating to the
14 disbursal of funds; providing an effective date.
15
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18 Section 1. Section 395.6061, Florida Statutes, is amended
19 to read:
20 395.6061 Rural hospital capital improvement.—
21 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.—The Legislature finds
22 that rural hospitals have limited ability to increase operating
23 revenues or to access other public or private funding sources
24 that are needed to maintain critical infrastructure, including,
25 but not limited to, the replacement of high-cost medical care
26 equipment or improvements to facility infrastructure. Rural
27 hospitals that do not have reasonable access to alternative
28 sources of revenue to pay for critical infrastructure needs are
29 at risk, and patient access, care, and quality are threatened.
30 Therefore, the Legislature finds that it is necessary to
31 establish the Florida Rural Hospital Capital Improvement
32 Competitive Grant Program for eligible rural hospitals to ensure
33 their sustainability.
34 (2) FLORIDA RURAL HOSPITAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT COMPETITIVE
35 GRANT PROGRAM.—The Department of Health shall establish and
36 administer the Florida Rural Hospital Capital Improvement
37 Competitive Grant Program for rural hospitals. Subject to annual
38 appropriation, the department shall establish grant awards up to
39 $750,000 for each hospital that meets the eligibility
40 requirements in subsection (3). Grants must be made available to
41 eligible rural hospitals based on the competitive grant program
42 and on criteria established by the agency.
43 (3) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—In order to be eligible for a grant
44 award, a hospital must be a rural hospital, as defined in s.
45 395.602, and must demonstrate that:
46 (a) Grant funds are necessary to maintain or improve the
47 quality of its health care services; and
48 (b) There is a return on investment to the taxpayers of
49 this state.
50 (4) AWARD OF GRANTS.—The department shall establish by rule
51 a grant application process and criteria for the evaluation of
52 applications. It shall score and rank grant applications based
53 on these criteria. Preference in grant award decisions shall be
54 given to any applicant that leverages additional private or
55 public matching funds or in-kind contributions. Preference in
56 grant award decisions shall also be given to any applicant that
57 demonstrates hospital practices targeted to reducing unnecessary
58 emergency room visits and preventable hospitalizations through
59 increased access to primary care services.
60 (5) ALLOWABLE USES OF FUNDS.—Grant awards may be used only
61 for hospital medical equipment purchases or facility
62 infrastructure improvements in the rural area serviced by the
63 grantee.
64 (6) REPORT.—The department shall provide an annual report
65 to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of
66 the House of Representatives which includes the list of grantees
67 and, for each grantee, the amount awarded, a brief description
68 detailing what the funds will be used for, the anticipated
69 outcomes to be achieved, and the return on investment to the
70 taxpayers of this state. There is established a rural hospital
71 capital improvement grant program.
72 (1) A rural hospital as defined in s. 395.602 may apply to
73 the department for a grant. The grant application must provide
74 information that includes:
75 (a) A statement indicating the problem the rural hospital
76 proposes to solve with the grant funds;
77 (b) The strategy proposed to resolve the problem;
78 (c) The organizational structure, financial system, and
79 facilities that are essential to the proposed solution;
80 (d) The projected longevity of the proposed solution after
81 the grant funds are expended;
82 (e) Evidence of participation in a rural health network as
83 defined in s. 381.0406;
84 (f) Evidence that the rural hospital has difficulty in
85 obtaining funding or that funds available for the proposed
86 solution are inadequate;
87 (g) Evidence that the grant funds will assist in
88 maintaining or returning the hospital to an economically stable
89 condition or that any plan for closure or realignment of
90 services will involve development of innovative alternatives for
91 the discontinued services;
92 (h) Evidence of a satisfactory record-keeping system to
93 account for grant fund expenditures within the rural county;
94 (i) A rural health network plan that includes a description
95 of how the plan was developed, the goals of the plan, the links
96 with existing health care providers under the plan, indicators
97 quantifying the hospital’s financial well-being, measurable
98 outcome targets, and the current physical and operational
99 condition of the hospital.
100 (2) Each rural hospital as defined in s. 395.602 shall
101 receive a minimum of $100,000 annually, subject to legislative
102 appropriation, upon application to the Department of Health, for
103 projects to acquire, repair, improve, or upgrade systems,
104 facilities, or equipment.
105 (3) Any remaining funds shall annually be disbursed to
106 rural hospitals in accordance with this section. The Department
107 of Health shall establish, by rule, criteria for awarding grants
108 for any remaining funds, which must be used exclusively for the
109 support and assistance of rural hospitals as defined in s.
110 395.602, including criteria relating to the level of
111 uncompensated care rendered by the hospital, the participation
112 in a rural health network as defined in s. 381.0406, and the
113 proposed use of the grant by the rural hospital to resolve a
114 specific problem. The department must consider any information
115 submitted in an application for the grants in accordance with
116 subsection (1) in determining eligibility for and the amount of
117 the grant, and none of the individual items of information by
118 itself may be used to deny grant eligibility.
119 (4) The department shall ensure that the funds are used
120 solely for the purposes specified in this section. The total
121 grants awarded pursuant to this section shall not exceed the
122 amount appropriated for this program.
123 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.