Upon a finding by the Clay County Hospital Authority that a sale, lease, or operating
agreement of Clay Memorial Hospital and all of its assets is in the public interest
under certain circumstances, such as where a sale, lease, or operating agreement would
advance the quality of medical care in Clay County or would ensure that medical services
in Clay County are delivered more efficiently and economically, the Clay County Hospital
Authority, by resolution, is authorized to sell or enter into a lease or operating
agreement with respect to Clay Memorial Hospital and all of its assets, including
real property, improvements, accounts receivable, choses in action, standing accounts
and indebtedness, fixtures, equipment, and other chattels, to or with, as the case
may be, a for-profit or not-for-profit corporation or other entity, and the authority
is empowered to enter into such sale, lease, or operating agreement through negotiations
between the authority and such corporation or other entity and upon such terms and
conditions as the authority and such other entity shall agree, provided that one such
condition shall be a plan for the continued treatment of indigent patients. In connection
with such a lease or operating agreement, the authority is authorized to sell the
personal property of the hospital to the corporation or other entity entering into
said lease or operating agreement, and it is further authorized to enter into an agreement
for the repurchase of the personal property upon the expiration of the lease or operating
agreement. The authority may enter into such sale, lease, or operating agreement if
it finds that such sale, lease, or operating agreement will advance the quality of
medical care in Clay County or will ensure that medical services in Clay County are
delivered more efficiently and economically and that any such sale, lease, or operating
agreement has been competitively bid or negotiated. All of the proceeds from the sale,
lease, or operating agreement with respect to the hospital and its assets to such
corporation or other entity shall be deposited by the authority in a fund or funds
which shall be used to provide health care services to indigent residents of Clay
County. Such fund or funds may be a special account or trust fund administered by
the authority, or by any other person or entity as determined by the authority, provided
that the authority shall have oversight responsibility concerning the administration
of the trust fund and the power to remove the trustee for unsatisfactory performance.
After a sale or during the period that the lease or operating agreement is in effect,
the authority shall be relieved of any responsibility or power for the management
and operation of Clay Memorial Hospital.
