Minnesota Session Laws - 1984, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1984 

                        CHAPTER 554-S.F.No. 1815 
           An act relating to hospitals; giving various public 
          hospital authorities the powers of nonprofit 
          corporations; proposing new law coded in Minnesota 
          Statutes, chapter 144. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  [144.581] [HOSPITAL AUTHORITIES.] 
    Subdivision 1.  A municipality, political subdivision, 
state agency, or other governmental entity that owns or operates 
a hospital authorized, organized, or operated under chapters 
158, 250, 376, and 397, or under sections 383A.41, 412.221, 
447.05 to 447.13, 447.31, or 471.59, or under any special law 
authorizing or establishing a hospital or hospital district 
shall, relative to the delivery of health care services, have, 
in addition to any authority vested by law, the authority and 
legal capacity of a nonprofit corporation under Minnesota 
Statutes, chapter 317, including authority to 
    (a) enter shared service and other cooperative ventures, 
     (b) join or sponsor membership in organizations intended to 
benefit the hospital or hospitals in general, 
     (c) enter partnerships, 
     (d) incorporate other corporations, 
     (e) have members of its governing authority or its officers 
or administrators serve as directors, officers, or employees of 
the ventures, associations, or corporations, 
    (f) own shares of stock in business corporations, and 
    (g) offer, directly or indirectly, products and services of 
the hospital, organization, association, partnership, or 
corporation to the general public. 
    Subd. 2.  In the event that the municipality, political 
subdivision, state agency, or other governmental entity provides 
direct financial subsidy to the hospital from tax revenue at the 
time an undertaking authorized under subdivision 1 is 
established or funded, the hospital may not contribute funds to 
the undertaking for more than three years and thereafter all 
funds must be repaid, with interest in no more than ten years.  
    Subd. 3.  The conversion of public funds for the benefit of 
any individual shall constitute grounds for review and action by 
the attorney general or the county attorney under section 609.54.
    Subd. 4.  Notwithstanding the development of an 
organization under this section, the governance of a hospital by 
the organization shall be subject to the public purchasing 
requirements of section 471.345, the open meeting law, section 
471.705, and the data practices act, chapter 13.  
     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment. 
    Approved April 25, 1984