TITLE
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING LEGAL ACTION AGAINST THE STATE OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, KENDALL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER AND/OR OTHER RELEVANT PARTIES TO DEFEND OR PRESERVE THE PUBLIC HEALTH TRUST�S INTERESTS WITH RESPECT TO THE PROVISION OF TRAUMA SERVICES IN THE TRUST�S SERVICE AREA

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WHEREAS, the Public Health Trust (�Trust�) is an agency and instrumentality of Miami-Dade County that operates Jackson Health System, including Jackson Memorial Hospital, Jackson South Community Hospital (�JSCH�), Jackson North Medical Center (�JNMC�) and multiple other County designated facilities providing health care services to all segments of the Miami-Dade County community; and
WHEREAS, the Trust also operates the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital (�Ryder�), which provides Level I Trauma Center Pediatric services and Adult Critical Care services, and has developed great expertise in the provision of trauma care services as well as international recognition for its breadth and depth of trauma service provision; and
WHEREAS, Ryder is centrally located in Miami-Dade County and, for the past 20 years, it has a proven track record of being able to accommodate and treat patients who are brought in from each end of the County, as well as patients from Broward and Monroe and other counties, without diverting patients; and
WHEREAS, supporting the extensive trauma service program at Ryder has required a significant investment of resources, financial and otherwise, by the Trust and Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, other local area health systems have at times expressed interest in establishing trauma centers in Miami-Dade County and the State of Florida Department of Health (�Department�), in November 2011, issued provisional license status to Kendall Regional Medical Center and three other hospitals in Florida, in reliance upon Rule 64J-2.010, Florida Administrative Code, allowing those hospitals to operate Level 2 trauma programs; and
WHEREAS, the Trust, finding that establishment of additional trauma centers at private hospitals in Miami-Dade County may lead to duplication of trauma services while eroding the resources that currently centralize support at Ryder through the Trust, in October 2011, filed a letter of intent to apply for trauma center status at JNMC and JSCH in order to address said competitive and other service related concerns; and
WHEREAS, on March 6, 2012, this Board adopted Resolution No. R-248-12, authorizing the Trust to take all actions necessary to establish trauma care programs at JNMC and/or JSCH, as determined by the Trust to be in the best interest of the Trust and the communities it serves, including, but not limited to, all actions necessary for filing of the application for service approval with the Department, which applications the Trust subsequently filed; and
WHEREAS, the recent actions by the Department disadvantage JNMC, JSCH and the Trust by selectively processing provisional license applications for Kendall Regional Medical Center and others pursuant to the now judicially invalidated Rule 64J-2.010, but denying application processing for JNMC and JSCH; and
WHEREAS, appealing such Departmental action, and taking other legal action, may preserve the Trust�s rights to operate a sustainable, thriving trauma program at Ryder and to expand its trauma services to JNMC and JSCH, as approved by this Board; and
WHEREAS, in December 2012, as stated in the resolution attached hereto, the Financial Recovery Board (1) granted the Trust President and CEO, and/or his designees, authority to review potential legal action, in concert with subject matter experts and legal counsel, to determine the best course of action to protect and promote the Trust�s interests with respect to trauma services and then act upon a determined course, and (2) recommended that the Board of County Commissioners approve the same; and
WHEREAS, the Trust seeks Commission authorization allowing the Trust to determine appropriate legal action, if any, against the State of Florida Department of Health, Kendall Regional Medical Center, and/or other relevant parties in order to defend or preserve the Public Health Trust�s interests with respect to the provision of trauma services in the Trust�s service area and to then act thereon; and
WHEREAS, the Commission desires to accomplish the purposes outlined in this Resolution as further described in the memorandum attached hereto and made a part hereof, and finds that the actions described herein are in the best interests of the Trust and the communities it serves,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board hereby authorizes Public Health Trust of Miami-Dade County, to determine appropriate legal action, if any, against the State of Florida Department of Health, Kendall Regional Medical Center, and/or other relevant parties to defend or preserve the Public Health Trust�s interests with respect to the provision of trauma services in the Trust�s service area and to then act thereon.