{"id":111185,"date":"2026-01-09T01:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T01:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/111185\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T01:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T01:28:15","slug":"south-florida-lawmakers-try-again-to-give-broad-business-powers-to-broward-hospital-districts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/111185\/","title":{"rendered":"South Florida lawmakers try again to give broad business powers to Broward hospital districts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legislation to grant sweeping business muscle to Broward County\u2019s two hospital districts died<\/a> unheard<\/a> last year. Now it\u2019s back, with even more aggressive language aimed at empowering the districts and their shared CEO while shielding them from liability.<\/p>\n

This week, Dania Beach Republican Rep. Hillary Cassel filed HB 1047<\/a>, a barely three-page bill with significant bearings on Broward Health<\/a> and Memorial Healthcare System<\/a>, both led by Shane Strum, Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 former Chief of Staff.<\/p>\n

The measure and its upper-chamber companion (SB 1122<\/a>) by Sarasota Republican Sen. Joe Gruters would authorize two or more special hospital districts to jointly form, participate in, or control a wide range of collaborative health care ventures \u2014 including public or private, for-profit or nonprofit entities \u2014 anywhere within their combined boundaries.<\/p>\n

Notably, the legislation would explicitly give the districts and their partners immunity from state action, allowing them to collaborate regardless of anticompetitive effects or potential conflicts with state or federal antitrust laws.<\/p>\n

Such collaborations are a \u201cpublic necessity,\u201d the bills declare, to improve access to treatment, strengthen provider integration and promote continuity of care.<\/p>\n

The legislation is a sequel to twin bills with generally the same aims<\/a> that Cassel and Miami Springs Republican Sen. Bryan \u00c1vila carried during the 2025 Session. It\u2019s largely identical substantively, with some key differences.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, HB 1047 and its Senate analog explicitly grant state action immunity to parties that jointly enter into or participate in collaborations with hospital districts, meaning that both the districts and their partners would be shielded from antitrust liability. The 2025 bills do not include<\/a> the term \u201cstate action immunity<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2025 bills also include the qualifying phrase, \u201cto the extent authorized by the State Constitution,\u201d before itemizing the districts\u2019 added powers. HB 1047 and SB 1122 contain no constitutional limitation language.<\/p>\n

Supporters of last year\u2019s measures, including Strum and lobbyists for both districts, framed the proposal as an efficiency tool that would let the systems share resources, cut costs and better compete with larger, for-profit chains like HCA Healthcare<\/a>. Health policy experts noted that collaboration could increase purchasing power and improve care for uninsured and underserved patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroward families need greater access to emergency, maternity, and specialty healthcare, and our public hospitals are the backbone of that access,\u201d Cassel said of her new measure in a statement Thursday. \u201cThis bill puts patients first by allowing Broward Health and Memorial to collaborate and expand care where it\u2019s needed most, ensuring our public hospitals can better serve the community and compete actively while keeping healthcare dollars invested locally.\u201d<\/p>\n

A press note from Cassel\u2019s Office said that according to local data, 21% of all infant deaths and 36% of Black infant deaths occur in just two ZIP codes in Broward, one of Florida\u2019s most populous and diverse counties, but one where \u201caccess to care remains uneven.\u201d Hypertension affects one in 10 residents, and nearly 200,000 people experience food insecurity, including thousands of children.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe strain on public hospitals has intensified as private providers scale back services,\u201d Cassel\u2019s Office said. \u201cIn 2022, Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale permanently closed its maternity and labor and delivery unit, citing staffing and financial challenges. When private hospitals exit unprofitable services, the burden falls on Broward\u2019s two public hospital systems, which serve all patients regardless of ability to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cassel\u2019s Office added that 21 other states have adopted \u201cthe same legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics<\/a>, however, warned last year that the legislation amounted to a backdoor merger that would bypass public scrutiny, regulatory review and possibly a countywide referendum otherwise required under state law. Memorial employees, physicians and community advocates raised alarms about transparency, governance and the potential shifting of financial burdens from North Broward\u2019s struggling Broward<\/a> Health system<\/a> onto South Broward taxpayers.<\/p>\n

The legislation arose during a period of internal change at Memorial, where Strum, appointed interim CEO in September while retaining his Broward Health role, oversaw layoffs, demotions and workforce restructuring. Memorial\u2019s board\u00a0praised the actions<\/a>\u00a0in March as part of a mandate to eliminate redundancies and increase efficiency. Some employees alleged declining morale and feared further cuts.<\/p>\n

Public opposition included a\u00a0Change.org petition<\/a>\u00a0that by April amassed nearly 2,000 signatures, many from health care workers and residents.<\/p>\n

SB 1122 or HB 1047 would take effect upon becoming law. The 2026 Legislative Session begins Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Legislation to grant sweeping business muscle to Broward County\u2019s two hospital districts died unheard last year. Now it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15823,506,37779,56660,28,30,29,56661,2508,37780,56662,56663,56664],"class_list":{"0":"post-111185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-broward","9":"tag-broward-county","10":"tag-broward-health","11":"tag-bryan-avila","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-florida-headlines","14":"tag-florida-news","15":"tag-hillary-casssel","16":"tag-joe-gruters","17":"tag-memorial-healthcare-system","18":"tag-north-broward","19":"tag-shane-strum","20":"tag-south-broward"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}