MS SB2323

Community hospital boards of trustees gain expanded powers to acquire hospitals, enter joint ventures, form nonprofit corporations, create subsidiaries, and engage in mergers and collaborative arrangements with public, private, for-profit, and nonprofit health care entities

Community hospitals and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (academic medical center) receive explicit state action immunity from federal and state antitrust laws for consolidations and collaborations with other health care providers

Maximum per diem compensation for community hospital trustees increases from $150 to $250 per meeting attended

The Rural Health Availability Act is renamed the "Rural and Private Hospitals Health Availability Act" and expanded to allow private hospitals in both rural and nonrural areas to enter cooperative agreements subject to a certificate of public advantage from the State Department of Health

Board of trustees must obtain prior approval from property owners before selling, leasing, or entering management agreements or joint ventures that transfer control of real property or hospital operations