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2015 SESSION

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HB 2316 Southwest Virginia Health Authority; review and approval of proposed cooperative agreements.

Introduced by: Terry G. Kilgore (by request) | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

SUMMARY AS ENACTED WITH GOVERNOR'S RECOMMENDATION: (all summaries)

Southwest Virginia Health Authority; cooperative agreements. Authorizes the Southwest Virginia Health Authority (the Authority) to receive and review applications for approval of proposed cooperative agreements submitted by two or more hospitals and to provide recommendations to the State Health Commissioner (the Commissioner) regarding the approval of such applications. The bill defines a cooperative agreement as an agreement among two or more hospitals for the sharing, allocation, consolidation by merger or other combination of assets, or referral of patients, personnel, instructional programs, support services, and facilities or medical, diagnostic, or laboratory facilities or procedures or other services traditionally offered by hospitals. The Authority shall recommend for approval by the Commissioner a proposed cooperative agreement if it determines that the benefits likely to result from the proposed cooperative agreement outweigh the disadvantages likely to result from a reduction in competition from the proposed cooperative agreement. The Commissioner is charged with adopting the Authority's recommendation if he determines that the recommendation is supported by a preponderance of the evidence in the record. The Commissioner is entrusted with actively and continuously supervising any cooperative agreement to ensure compliance with its provisions and is required, if he has reason to believe that compliance with a cooperative agreement no longer meets certain requirements, to initiate a proceeding to determine whether compliance no longer meets the requirements. The bill also provides that activities conducted pursuant to cooperative agreements approved and supervised by the Commissioner are immunized from challenge or scrutiny under the Commonwealth's antitrust laws. The measure states that it is the intention of the General Assembly that this measure immunizes cooperative agreements approved and supervised by the Commissioner from challenge or scrutiny under federal antitrust law. The City of Bristol is added to the jurisdictions participating in the Authority. The Chief Executive Officer of the Clinch Valley Medical Center or his designee is added to the Authority's board of directors. The State Board of Health is required to promulgate emergency regulations that address (i) the review of applications for proposed collaborative agreements; (ii) the process by which applications for proposed collaborative agreements shall be approved or denied; (iii) post-approval monitoring; and (iv) fees to cover costs of supervising an approved cooperative agreement. Finally, the measure requires the Authority to submit the regional health goals to the Commissioner at least 30 days prior to the Authority's submission to the Commissioner of any recommendation concerning a proposed collaborative agreement.


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