AB533

Assembly Bill No. 533–Assemblyman Brower

CHAPTER........

AN ACT relating to hospital districts; authorizing a board of county commissioners to create

a hospital district for the sole purpose of contracting for hospital services under

certain circumstances; authorizing district hospitals to join purchasing groups to

purchase supplies, materials and equipment used by the hospital; authorizing district

hospitals under certain circumstances to purchase supplies, material and equipment

without complying with the Local Government Purchasing Act; and providing other

matters properly relating thereto.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Chapter 450 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto

the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 6, inclusive, of this act.

Sec. 2. 1. A board of county commissioners may create a hospital

district in an area where no hospital district exists for the sole purpose of

contracting with a public agency or a privately owned hospital to provide

the services of a hospital to the residents of the district. If such a contract

is executed, the board of trustees:

(a) Shall prepare a budget pursuant to NRS 450.650;

(b) Shall levy a tax pursuant to NRS 450.660;

(c) May accept donations pursuant to NRS 450.690;

(d) May determine medical indigency pursuant to NRS 450.700; and

(e) May borrow money and incur or assume indebtedness pursuant to

NRS 450.665.

2. A board of county commissioners shall not create a hospital

district pursuant to this section unless it determines that:

(a) The proposed hospital district constitutes a geographic area of the

county that is not served by adequate medical services;

(b) There is no county hospital or the county hospital is not capable of

providing the necessary services; and

(c) The proposal is approved by a majority of the votes cast on the

issue by persons in the proposed hospital district.

3. If a hospital district is created pursuant to this section, the board

of county commissioners may be designated by ordinance as, ex officio,

the board of trustees of the hospital district, notwithstanding the

provisions of subsection 3 of NRS 450.620.
Sec. 3. The board of trustees may contract with a public agency or a

privately owned hospital to provide the services of a hospital to the

residents of the hospital district if it determines that:

1. There is a need to provide medical services to the residents of the

district which are not being provided by the district; or

2. It is less costly or more efficient to provide the services of a

hospital to the residents of the district by contracting with a public

agency or a privately owned hospital.

Sec. 4. 1. The board of trustees may contract with a company

which manages hospitals for the rendering of management services in a

district hospital.

2. The agreement may provide:

(a) That the chief executive officer of the hospital must be an

employee of the company which manages the hospital; and

(b) That the hospital may, in accordance with the requirements of

section 6 of this act, purchase supplies, materials and equipment through

the purchasing contracts of the company which manages the hospital, or

through a purchasing group, without complying with the requirements

for competitive bidding set forth in chapter 332 of NRS.

Sec. 5. 1. A district hospital may, with the approval of the board of

trustees, become a member of a purchasing group for the purpose of

purchasing supplies, materials and equipment used by the district

hospital.

2. A district hospital that becomes a member of a purchasing group

may, in accordance with the requirements of section 6 of this act,

purchase supplies, materials and equipment through the purchasing

group without complying with the requirements for competitive bidding

set forth in chapter 332 of NRS.

Sec. 6. A district hospital that is authorized pursuant to section 4 or

5 of this act to purchase supplies, materials and equipment in accordance

with this section through the purchasing contracts of the company that

manages the hospital or through a purchasing group may purchase the

supplies, materials and equipment without complying with the

requirements for competitive bidding set forth in chapter 332 of NRS if:

1. The documents pertaining to the proposed purchase, including,

without limitation, the prices available to the company or purchasing

group, are summarized in writing and, together with a sworn statement

by an officer or agent of the company or purchasing group that the

prices were obtained by the company or purchasing group through a

process of competitive bidding, are presented to the board of trustees at

its next regularly scheduled meeting; and

2. The board of trustees, after reviewing the summary and statement,

finds that the proposed purchase will be made at a lower price than the

lowest price reasonably obtainable by the hospital through competitive

bidding pursuant to chapter 332 of NRS or available to the hospital

pursuant to NRS 333.470 and approves the proposed purchase.

Sec. 7. NRS 450.550 is hereby amended to read as follows:

450.550 As used in NRS 450.550 to 450.750, inclusive, and section 2

to 6, inclusive, of this act, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Board of trustees" means:

(a) A board of hospital trustees:

(1) Elected pursuant to NRS 450.620; or

(2) Appointed pursuant to NRS 450.625; o

r
(b) A board of county commissioners, if that board enacts an ordinance

which provides that the board of county commissioners is, ex officio, the

board of hospital trustees.

2. "District hospital" means a hospital constructed, maintained and

governed pursuant to NRS 450.550 to 450.750, inclusive.

Sec. 8. NRS 450.620 is hereby amended to read as follows:

450.620 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2 and NRS

450.625, if a hospital district is created pursuant to NRS 450.550 to

450.750, inclusive, the board of county commissioners shall provide by

ordinance for:

(a) The number of members of the board of trustees;

(b) The term of office of the trustees, which must not exceed 4 years;

nonpartisan.

2. If a hospital district specified in subsection 1 does not include

territory within more than one county, the board of county commissioners

may enact an ordinance providing that the board of county commissioners

is, ex officio, the board of hospital trustees of the district hospital. If such

an ordinance is enacted in a county:

(a) The county commissioners shall serve as the hospital trustees of the

district hospital during their terms of office as county commissioners; and

(b) If hospital trustees have been elected pursuant to subsection 1, the

term of office of each hospital trustee of the district hospital who is serving

in that capacity on the effective date of the ordinance is terminated as of the

effective date of the ordinance.

3. [A] Except as otherwise provided in section 2 of this act, a board of

county commissioners shall not enact an ordinance pursuant to subsection 2

unless it determines that:

(a) The county has fully funded its indigent care account created

pursuant to NRS 428.010;

(b) The county has fulfilled its duty to reimburse the hospital for

indigent care provided to qualified indigent patients; and

(1) At least one of the hospital’s accounts payable was more than 90

days in arrears;

(2) The hospital failed to fulfill its statutory financial obligations,

including the payment of taxes, premiums for industrial insurance or

contributions to the public employees’ retirement system;

(3) One or more of the conditions relating to financial emergencies

set forth in subsection 1 of NRS 354.685 existed at the hospital; or

(4) The hospital received notice from the Federal Government or the

State of Nevada that the certification or license of the hospital was in

imminent jeopardy of being revoked because the hospital had not carried

out a previously established plan of action to correct previously noted

deficiencies found by the regulatory body.