CS/CS/HB 897 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0897-02-c2
Page 1 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to independent hospital districts; 2
creating s. 189.0762, F.S.; providing definitions; 3
providing requirements for the conversion of an 4
independent hospital district to a nonprofit entity; 5
requiring a certain evaluation by an independent 6
entity; providing qualifications for such independent 7
entity; providing for notice of public meetings and 8
publication of certain documents; requiring that the 9
evaluation of the conversion be completed and a final 10
report presented to the governing body of the d istrict 11
within a specified timeframe; requiring that the final 12
report be published on the district's website; 13
requiring certification of the final report; requiring 14
the governing body of the district to determine by a 15
supermajority vote whether conversion is in the best 16
interests of its residents within a specified 17
timeframe; providing for negotiation of an agreement 18
between each affected county and the independent 19
hospital district; providing requirements for such 20
agreement; providing for disposition of al l assets and 21
liabilities of the district; prohibiting members of 22
the board of commissioners for an affected county from 23
serving on the board of the succeeding nonprofit 24
entity; authorizing members of the governing body of 25
CS/CS/HB 897 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0897-02-c2
Page 2 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
the independent hospital district to serve on the 26
board of the succeeding nonprofit entity; requiring 27
disclosure of all conflicts of interest; requiring 28
certain documents to be published on the websites of 29
the district and each county that is a party to the 30
agreement for a specified timefr ame; authorizing the 31
governing body of the independent hospital district to 32
approve by supermajority vote the conversion of the 33
district to a nonprofit entity; requiring each board 34
of commissioners for each affected county to approve 35
the agreement at a pub lic meeting; requiring a 36
referendum under certain circumstances; requiring the 37
independent hospital district to file a copy of the 38
agreement with and provide certain notification to the 39
Department of Economic Opportunity within a specified 40
timeframe; providing for dissolution of the district 41
within a specified timeframe; providing an effective 42
date. 43
44
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 45
46
Section 1. Section 189.0762, Florida Statutes, is created 47
to read: 48
189.0762 Conversion of an independent hospital district to 49
a nonprofit entity.— 50
CS/CS/HB 897 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0897-02-c2
Page 3 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(1) For purposes of this section, the term: 51
(a) "Independent hospital district" means an entity 52
created pursuant to a special act which operates one or more 53
hospitals licensed under chapter 395 a nd is governed by the 54
governing body of a special district or by the board of trustees 55
of a public health trust created under s. 154.07. 56
(b) "Nonprofit entity" means a Florida not -for-profit 57
corporation operating under chapter 617. 58
(2) The governing bo dy of an independent hospital district 59
may elect, by a majority vote plus one, to commence an 60
evaluation of the benefits to the residents of the district of 61
converting the independent hospital district to a nonprofit 62
entity if the governing body of the dis trict and each county 63
within which any part of the district's boundaries are located 64
execute an agreement that meets the requirements of subsection 65
(5). In evaluating the benefits of converting the independent 66
hospital district to a nonprofit entity, the g overning body of 67
the district must: 68
(a) Publish notice of and conduct a public meeting in 69
accordance with s. 189.015(1) to provide the residents of the 70
district with the opportunity to publicly testify regarding the 71
conversion. The public hearing must be held at a meeting other 72
than a regularly noticed meeting or an emergency meeting of the 73
independent hospital district. 74
(b) Contract with an independent entity that has at least 75
CS/CS/HB 897 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0897-02-c2
Page 4 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
5 years of experience conducting comparable evaluations of 76
hospital organizations similar in size and function to the 77
independent hospital district to conduct the evaluation 78
according to applicable industry best practices. The independent 79
entity may not have any affiliation with or financial 80
involvement in the district or with any member of the governing 81
body of the district. 82
(c) Publish all documents considered by the governing body 83
of the independent hospital district on the website of the 84
district. 85
(3) The evaluation must be completed and a final report 86
presented to the gove rning body of the independent hospital 87
district no later than 180 days after the date on which the vote 88
is taken by the governing body of the district to evaluate the 89
conversion. The final report shall be published on the 90
district's website. The final repo rt must include a statement 91
signed by the presiding officer of the governing board of the 92
independent hospital district and the chief executive officer of 93
the independent entity conducting the evaluation that, based on 94
each person's reasonable knowledge an d belief, the contents and 95
conclusions of the evaluation are true and correct. 96
(4) No later than 120 days after the date on which the 97
governing body of the independent hospital district receives the 98
final report, the governing body of the district must d etermine, 99
by a majority vote plus one, whether the interests of the 100
CS/CS/HB 897 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0897-02-c2
Page 5 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
residents of the district are best served by converting the 101
independent hospital district to a nonprofit entity. If the 102
governing body of the district determines conversion is in the 103
best interests of its residents, the independent hospital 104
district must negotiate and complete an agreement with the board 105
of county commissioners for each county in which any part of the 106
district's boundaries are located before conversion may occur. 107
(5) An agreement between the governing body of the 108
independent hospital district and each county in which any part 109
of the district's boundaries are located must be completed no 110
later than 120 days after the date on which the public meeting 111
is held to determine if conversion of the district is in the 112
best interests of its residents. The agreement must be in 113
writing, dispose of all assets and liabilities of the 114
independent hospital district, and include: 115
(a) A description of each asset that will be transferred 116
to each county. 117
(b) A description of each liability that will be 118
transferred to each county. 119
(c) The estimated total value of the assets that will be 120
transferred to each county. 121
(d) The estimated total value of the liabilities that will 122
be transferred to each county. 123
(e) If the agreement is with more than one county, a 124
description of the methodology used to allocate the assets and 125
CS/CS/HB 897 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0897-02-c2
Page 6 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
liabilities of the district between the counties. 126
(f) A description of all assets that will be transferred 127
to the succeeding nonprofit entity. 128
(g) A description of all liabilities that will be assumed 129
by the succeeding nonprofit entity. 130
(h) The estimated total value of the assets that will be 131
transferred to the succeeding nonprofit entity. 132
(i) The total value of the li abilities to be assumed by 133
the succeeding nonprofit entity. 134
(j) If any debts remain, how those debts will be resolved. 135
(k) An enforceable commitment that programs and services 136
provided by the district will continue to be provided to all 137
residents of the former district in perpetuity so long as the 138
succeeding nonprofit entity is in operation or, if otherwise 139
agreed to by the independent hospital district and each county 140
that is a party to the agreement, until the succeeding nonprofit 141
entity has otherwise met all obligations set forth in the 142
agreement. 143
(l) A provision transferring the rights and obligations as 144
agreed to by the governing body of the independent hospital 145
district and each county that is a party to the agreement to the 146
succeeding nonprofit entity. 147
(m) Any other terms mutually agreed to by the governing 148
body of the independent hospital district and each county that 149
is a party to the agreement. 150
CS/CS/HB 897 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0897-02-c2
Page 7 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(6)(a) A member of the board of commissioners for any 151
county that is a party to the agreement ma y not serve on the 152
board of the succeeding nonprofit entity. 153
(b) A member of the governing body of the independent 154
hospital district may serve on the board of the succeeding 155
nonprofit entity. 156
(7) The members of the governing body of the independent 157
hospital district and the board of commissioners for each county 158
that is a party to the agreement must disclose all conflicts of 159
interest as required by s. 112.313, including, but not limited 160
to: 161
(a) Whether the conversion of the independent hospital 162
district will result in a special private gain or loss to any 163
member of the governing body of the independent hospital 164
district or boards of commissioners for the affected counties or 165
to any senior executive of the independent hospital district. 166
(b) If any member of the governing body of the independent 167
hospital district will serve on the board of the succeeding 168
nonprofit entity. Such intent to serve on the board of the 169
succeeding nonprofit entity does not disqualify any member from 170
voting on the proposed conve rsion. 171
(8) The evaluation, agreements, disclosures, and any other 172
supporting documents related to the conversion of the 173
independent hospital district must be published on the 174
district's website and the website of each county that is a 175
CS/CS/HB 897 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0897-02-c2
Page 8 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
party to the agreement under subsection (5) for 45 days before 176
the governing body of the independent hospital district and the 177
board of commissioners for each county that is a party to the 178
agreement may vote on the proposed conversion. 179
(9)(a) In a public meeting noticed as required pursuant to 180
subsection (2), the governing body of the independent hospital 181
district may approve, by a majority vote plus one, the 182
conversion of the district to a nonprofit entity and any 183
agreements related to the conversion. 184
(b) The agreement n egotiated under subsection (5) must be 185
approved by each board of commissioners for each affected county 186
in a properly noticed public meeting. 187
(c) If the governing body of the independent hospital 188
district and the board of commissioners for each affected county 189
approve the proposed agreement, and the district exercises ad 190
valorem taxing powers, a referendum of the qualified electors of 191
the district must be conducted at the next general election as 192
required pursuant to s. 100.031. A referendum is not requir ed 193
for independent hospital districts that have not levied, 194
collected, or received ad valorem taxes in the current fiscal 195
year and the previous 5 fiscal years. 196
(d) If approved by the qualified electors of the 197
independent hospital district voting in a ref erendum conducted 198
in accordance with paragraph (c), the agreement between the 199
independent hospital district and the board of commissioners for 200
CS/CS/HB 897 2022
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0897-02-c2
Page 9 of 9
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
each affected county shall be in full force and effect. The 201
independent hospital district shall file a copy of th e agreement 202
with the department no later than 10 days after the date on 203
which the referendum approving the agreement and conversion 204
occurs. 205
(10) No later than 30 days after the complete transfer of 206
assets and liabilities as provided in the agreement unde r 207
subsection (5), the independent hospital district shall notify 208
the department. The district shall be dissolved automatically 209
upon receipt of the notice by the department. 210
(11) If the governing body of the independent hospital 211
district and the board of commissioners for each county that is 212
a party to the agreement are unable to reach an agreement that 213
would result in the conversion of the independent hospital 214
district to a nonprofit entity, the district shall continue in 215
existence. 216
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 217