HSC §101656: The Legislature finds and declares the following: (a) Natividad Medical Center, currently a constituent department of the County of Monterey, is a designated public hospital, as defined in subdivision

The Legislature finds and declares the following: (a) Natividad Medical Center, currently a constituent department of the County of Monterey, is a designated public hospital, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 14166.1 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and a critical component of the state’s health care safety net. (b) In an era of health care reform and a constantly evolving competitive health care environment, in order to carry out its mission of improving the health status of the people of the county through access to affordable, high-quality health care services, it is necessary that the medical center continues to improve its ability to function with flexibility, responsiveness, and innovation. (c) The Board of Supervisors of the County of Monterey has determined that the needs of the citizens of the county would best be served if the medical center, while continuing as a designated public hospital and maintaining its mission, is affiliated or consolidated with one or more health care facilities in the County of Monterey and operated by a separate and distinct public hospital authority that is separate and apart from the county. (d) The board of supervisors has also determined that the creation of a public hospital authority, to be charged with the management, administration, and control of the medical center as a designated public safety net hospital, and the affiliation or consolidation of the medical center with one or more health care facilities in the County of Monterey is the best way to fulfill the county’s commitment to its residents, including the low income, medically indigent, and special needs populations of the county. (e) Because there is no general law under which this public hospital authority could be formed for these purposes, the adoption of a special act and formation of a special authority by the Legislature are required, and the Board of Supervisors of the County of Monterey has requested that the Legislature act.