Florida House considers a way to convert public hospital districts

Share
breast cancer screening
Mammogram screening for breast cancer. By gorodenkoff via iStock for WMNF.

©2024 The News Service of Florida

A House panel Wednesday supported a proposal that would create a process for public hospital districts to convert to non-profit organizations and require districts to study the financial feasibility of converting to non-profits or selling to for-profit companies.

The proposal (HB 1421), sponsored by Rep. Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, is positioned to go to the full House after getting approval from the State Affairs Committee.

But a Senate version (SB 1700) has not been heard in committees more than halfway through the 60-day legislative session.

Under current law, districts can sell or lease hospitals to other entities.

But Fine said they cannot convert to non-profit organizations.

The bill would allow districts, if they choose, to go through a conversion process.

Also, it would require all hospital districts to hire consultants to do financial evaluations of possible conversions or sales.

“We are not forcing them to do anything other than to gather information,” Fine said.

But Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, pointed to “public good” from public hospitals and said they shouldn’t have to go through the evaluations if communities don’t want changes.

“There are benefits to retaining a public hospital, as is,” Bartleman said.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Genetics and Your Health

MidPoint explored genetics testing and the challenges of receiving a...

The Scoop: Thurs. Nov. 21st, 2024, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

Stay updated on the St. Petersburg city leaders' vote on...

City of Zephyrhills and FEMA will hold a hurricane assistance meeting Friday

There will be a town hall-style meeting in Zephyrhills regarding...

Florida Capitol
Here are the 2025-26 Florida Senate committee leaders

Senate President, Republican Ben Albritton, named lawmakers who will lead...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

Morning Energy
Player position: