1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to county hospitals; providing for their 
  1.3             borrowing authority; establishing a uniform approach 
  1.4             to governmental hospital borrowing; modernizing 
  1.5             hospital board membership criteria; amending Minnesota 
  1.6             Statutes 2000, sections 376.06, subdivision 1; 376.07; 
  1.7             376.08, subdivisions 1 and 2; and 376.09. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 376.06, 
  1.10  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [PROCEDURE, POWERS, PAY, ELECTION.] A 
  1.12  county board which has purchased and constructed buildings for 
  1.13  hospital purposes may operate these buildings as a hospital and 
  1.14  may appoint a superintendent.  The board shall set the 
  1.15  superintendent's salary, term of employment, and powers and 
  1.16  duties; provide for the management and operation of the 
  1.17  hospital; and operate, control, and manage the hospital.  The 
  1.18  superintendent shall serve at the pleasure of the board.  If the 
  1.19  board determines that it is in the public interest, it may 
  1.20  appoint a hospital board of at least three, but not more than 
  1.21  nine members, who must be county residents and landowners, to 
  1.22  serve may include some or all of the county commissioners except 
  1.23  as otherwise provided in subdivision 2.  Persons appointed to 
  1.24  the hospital board must reside in the hospital's service area 
  1.25  and 80 percent of the board members, including any commissioners 
  1.26  appointed to serve on the hospital board, must be residents of 
  2.1   the county.  The hospital board serves without compensation 
  2.2   unless the county board authorizes the payment of compensation 
  2.3   and reimbursement of expenses for service on the hospital 
  2.4   board.  Notwithstanding section 375.44, if compensation and 
  2.5   reimbursement are authorized, they shall be the same as 
  2.6   authorized for service on the local social services agency.  
  2.7   Subject to its supervision, the county board may commit the 
  2.8   care, management, and operation of the hospital to the hospital 
  2.9   board.  The county board may provide for the organization and 
  2.10  regulation of the hospital board, its duties and the duties of 
  2.11  the members, and regulations for the management, operation, and 
  2.12  control of the hospital.  The county board may lease the 
  2.13  hospital grounds and buildings to a hospital association 
  2.14  nonprofit or governmental hospital organization for terms it 
  2.15  considers advisable.  Sections 376.01 to 376.06 do not permit 
  2.16  any county board to purchase and construct any hospital 
  2.17  buildings or to pay for them without first submitting the 
  2.18  question to the vote of the people.  No purchase or construction 
  2.19  of buildings or payment may be made unless a majority of the 
  2.20  electors voting upon the proposition vote in favor.  
  2.21     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 376.07, is 
  2.22  amended to read: 
  2.23     376.07 [ADDITION TO COUNTY HOSPITAL.] 
  2.24     When the county board of a county has been authorized by 
  2.25  the voters to construct an addition to the county hospital of 
  2.26  the county under sections 376.01 to 376.06, whether or not also 
  2.27  authorized to equip the addition, and the board has determined 
  2.28  that the addition, whether with or without equipment, cannot be 
  2.29  completed within the cost authorized, or has determined that, to 
  2.30  complete the improvement, certain alterations should be made, or 
  2.31  fixtures or equipment added, either in the original building, or 
  2.32  in the addition, or both, the board may be authorized to spend a 
  2.33  specified additional amount for any of the purposes mentioned in 
  2.34  this chapter, either by vote of the people of the county at a 
  2.35  general or special election or by petition.  If an election is 
  2.36  held, the proposition shall be submitted and disposed of in the 
  3.1   same manner as provided by sections 376.01 to 376.06.  If by 
  3.2   petition, the petition must be signed by a majority of those 
  3.3   voting at the last preceding general election.  The petition may 
  3.4   be in the form of one document or of several documents in the 
  3.5   same form, and shall be filed with the county auditor.  A 
  3.6   special election may be called in the manner provided for 
  3.7   calling special county elections.  The county board, hospital 
  3.8   board, or the board of directors of a nonprofit or governmental 
  3.9   hospital organization that has leased a county hospital may 
  3.10  authorize the remodeling, improvement, alteration, or 
  3.11  construction of an addition to the county hospital or of another 
  3.12  building on the county hospital's existing premises by a 
  3.13  majority vote of the board.  When authority is granted by the 
  3.14  voters, in either manner provided, the board may proceed 
  3.15  accordingly.  If the board made or attempted to make a contract 
  3.16  or contracts for more than the authority first granted, it may 
  3.17  ratify and carry out the contracts.  Financing for any project 
  3.18  under this section is governed by other law, including sections 
  3.19  373.40 and 447.45 and chapter 475.  
  3.20     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 376.08, 
  3.21  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.22     Subdivision 1.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] Except as provided in 
  3.23  subdivision 2, the board of county commissioners in any county 
  3.24  with a population of 50,000 or less may appropriate up to 
  3.25  $65,000 annually from the general revenue fund of the county for 
  3.26  the acquisition of lands for hospital purposes, and the 
  3.27  construction, improvement, alterations, equipment and 
  3.28  maintenance of hospitals within the county, including public or 
  3.29  nonprofit hospitals that are not county hospitals.  The board 
  3.30  may also appropriate up to $25,000 from the general revenue fund 
  3.31  of the county for the acquisition of land and construction of 
  3.32  municipally owned nursing homes within the county.  
  3.33     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 376.08, 
  3.34  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.35     Subd. 2.  [REMODELING OR ADDITIONS.] A county hospital may 
  3.36  by majority vote of its board of commissioners, or if the 
  4.1   hospital has been leased to another entity under section 376.06, 
  4.2   subdivision 1, or 447.47, by majority vote of the board of 
  4.3   directors of that entity, enter into projects for the 
  4.4   construction of an addition or remodeling to its presently 
  4.5   existing facility or the acquisition of equipment as described 
  4.6   in this subdivision without complying with the dollar limitation 
  4.7   of subdivision 1 or the election requirements of section 
  4.8   376.03.  This subdivision applies only to projects in which the 
  4.9   funds for the project are derived from dedicated, restricted, or 
  4.10  other designated accounts or, from the hospital's depreciation 
  4.11  fund, or from revenue bonds authorized pursuant to section 
  4.12  447.45, and do not require incurring debt by the county through 
  4.13  the issuance of general obligation bonds or otherwise.  An 
  4.14  addition to a current hospital under this subdivision may 
  4.15  include construction of buildings physically separate from the 
  4.16  present hospital building, as well as additions to the present 
  4.17  building, if the new buildings are constructed on the hospital's 
  4.18  existing premises. 
  4.19     This subdivision does not affect the ability of the 
  4.20  hospital board to approve funds for improvements or remodeling 
  4.21  of a hospital facility under other law. 
  4.22     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 376.09, is 
  4.23  amended to read: 
  4.24     376.09 [AID TO HOSPITALS IN COUNTIES HAVING NO COUNTY 
  4.25  HOSPITAL.] 
  4.26     In any county in which there is no county hospital, or a 
  4.27  county hospital is leased to a nonprofit or governmental 
  4.28  hospital organization pursuant to section 376.06, subdivision 1, 
  4.29  or 447.47, the county board may appropriate and pay money from 
  4.30  the general fund of the county, for the construction, 
  4.31  maintenance, and operation of a private, nonprofit, or public 
  4.32  hospital in the county for the treatment of sick, diseased, and 
  4.33  injured persons.  Admission preference shall always be given to 
  4.34  patients who are, in whole or in part, public charges, and are 
  4.35  sent to the hospital by the county board.