Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The hospital established pursuant to the provisions of chapter one hundred and thirty-four of the special acts of nineteen hundred and nineteen and maintained by the city of Quincy shall be designated and known as Quincy hospital.

SECTION 2. All statutory provisions in any special law, that refers to Quincy city hospital, the hospital operated by the city of Quincy or similar designation shall be deemed to mean Quincy hospital.

SECTION 3. All presently existing legal rights and obligations created by statute, contract or otherwise pertaining to Quincy city hospital shall be deemed to be rights and obligations of Quincy hospital.

SECTION 4. Section 1 of chapter 312 of the acts of 1981 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, the word "City".

SECTION 5. Said section 1 of said chapter 312 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 7, the word "city".

SECTION 6. Said chapter 312 is hereby further amended by striking out section 2, as most recently amended by section 2 of chapter 427 of the acts of 1993, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 2. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this act, expenditure from the account authorized by section one shall be made by the director of the Quincy hospital, without appropriation, and shall be used for the operation, maintenance and service development of said hospital and for capital equipment and plant for said hospital. Said account authorized by said section one shall be deemed to be a trust fund. It shall be maintained on behalf of said hospital by the Quincy hospital investment committee, hereinafter referred to as the investment committee, and the funds therein shall be invested by the treasurer of the city of Quincy solely at the discretion of and within the discretion of the investment committee and any income accruing thereon shall inure to the benefit of said hospital; provided, however, that such funds shall be invested in any such investment as may be lawful for fiduciaries in the commonwealth. Said investment committee shall consist of the treasurer of the city of Quincy, the auditor of the city of Quincy, the director and chief financial officer of Quincy hospital three members of the board of managers of Quincy hospital who shall be appointed by the board of managers of said hospital for such terms as it deems appropriate; provided, further, that such terms of appointment shall be for less than two years; and two persons with expertise in financial investment activities who shall be appointed by the board of managers of said hospital for such terms as it deems appropriate; provided, however, that such terms of appointment shall be for less than two years. Said investment committee shall take all actions by affirmative vote of at least five of its members. Said investment committee shall report, in writing, at least quarterly, to the board of managers of the Quincy hospital and to the mayor and city council of said city of its activities and investments. Said investment committee is hereby authorized to enter into contracts for such professional services as it deems proper to advise said committee relative to the investment of the funds in the Quincy Hospital Operation Account and is further authorized to expend funds from said account for any such purpose. Upon recommendation by the director and approval by a two-thirds vote of the board of managers, expenditures from said account may be loaned with proper surety and security as determined by the city solicitor and city auditor for the purposes of assisting in physician recruitment. Such account shall be maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and shall be audited annually by a certified public accountant. Such audits shall be submitted to the board of managers of said hospital and to the mayor and city council of said city. For the purpose of providing health care for the citizens of the city of Quincy, said city may, from time to time, appropriate monies into said account and donations from private sources may be received into said account.

SECTION 7. Section 3 of said chapter 312, as appearing in section 13 of chapter 470 of the acts of 1985, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 2 and 4, the word "city", each time it appears.

SECTION 8. Section 4 of said chapter 312, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 1, the word "city".

SECTION 9. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, Quincy hospital may, upon the vote of a majority of the full membership of its board of managers, borrow, in the name of the city of Quincy on behalf of Quincy hospital and subject to such terms as set forth in this act, from a bank, trust company or other financial institution approved by said board of managers such sums as said board of managers may deem appropriate and apply the proceeds of any such borrowing to any purpose for which Quincy hospital revenues may be expended. Any such borrowing may be structured as a revolving credit facility, line of credit or other similar commercially customary arrangement and may be evidenced by one or more promissory notes or other instruments of indebtedness, the interest rates, maturities and other details concerning the same to be determined by the board of managers as aforesaid. The aggregate principal amount of indebtedness incurred under this act shall not exceed, at the time of the incurrence, ten percent of the net patient service revenues of Quincy hospital for the preceding fiscal year as certified by the director of Quincy hospital.

SECTION 10. As security for any indebtedness incurred under this act, Quincy hospital may, upon a vote of a majority of the full membership of its board of managers, pledge or grant a security interest in all or a portion of the accounts, accounts receivable, documents, instruments, general intangibles, chattel paper, inventory, equipment, goods, cash on deposit and any other tangible or intangible personal property of Quincy hospital, and any products and proceeds of the foregoing shall be deposited to or received by Quincy hospital's operations account, established under chapter three hundred and twelve of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighty-one. The agreement providing for the granting of such security may also include such covenants and provisions for protecting and enforcing the rights, security and remedies of creditors as may be determined, in the discretion of the board of managers as aforesaid, to be reasonable and proper and not in violation of law including, without limitation, provisions defining defaults and providing for remedies in the event thereof, which may include the acceleration of maturities, and covenants setting forth the duties of, and limitations on, Quincy hospital in relation to the custody, safeguarding, investment and application of moneys, the fixing, revision and collection of hospital fees and charges, the establishment of reserves and the making and amending of contracts.

SECTION 11. Any of the powers granted by this act to the board of managers may be delegated, by a vote of a majority of members of the full membership of the board of managers, to the director or chief financial officer of Quincy hospital or to such other officer of Quincy hospital as the board of managers may deem appropriate, or to any combination of the foregoing.

SECTION 12. Any indebtedness incurred under this act shall be a special obligation of the city of Quincy payable solely from moneys deposited into Quincy hospital's operations account or from the security pledged as security for such indebtedness pursuant to this act and shall not be considered the indebtedness of or payable from any other revenues of said city of Quincy. Such indebtedness shall not be included in determining the limits of indebtedness of the city of Quincy as established by law nor shall the principal and interest payments in respect thereof be included in any computation under section twenty-one of chapter fifty-nine of the General Laws.

SECTION 13. Any debt service fund, debt service reserve fund or other fund established in connection with indebtedness incurred under this act shall be kept separate from the general fund of the city of Quincy and from the general operating funds of Quincy hospital. The moneys deposited in any such funds, together with income derived from any investments held as part of such funds, all of which income shall be considered revenues of Quincy hospital, shall be expended without further authorization of or appropriation by the city of Quincy.

SECTION 14. Debt instruments issued under this act, their transfer and income therefrom, including any profit made on the sale thereof, shall at all times be exempt from taxation by the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof.

SECTION 15. Indebtedness may be incurred under this act without obtaining the consent of any department, division, commission, board, bureau or agency of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, and without any other proceedings or the happening of any condition or thing other than those proceedings, conditions or things that are specifically required therefor by this act and the validity of and security for any indebtedness incurred under this act shall not be affected by the existence or nonexistence of any such consent or other proceedings, conditions or things.

SECTION 16. The provisions of sections nine to fifteen, inclusive, of this act shall be deemed to provide a complete, additional and alternative method for the effectuation of the purposes of said sections nine to fifteen and shall be construed to be supplemental to, and not in derogation of, powers otherwise conferred by law; provided, however, that insofar as the provisions of said sections nine to fifteen are inconsistent with the provisions of any general or special law, administrative order or regulation or any limitation imposed by the municipal charter, the provisions of said sections nine to fifteen shall be controlling. Said sections nine to fifteen shall be interpreted liberally to effectuate the purposes set forth herein.

SECTION 17. This act shall take effect upon its passage.