§ 3401 — Legislative findings and purpose

§ 3401. Legislative findings and purpose. The legislature hereby finds\nand declares as follows:\n 1. The needs of the residents of the state of New York and of the\ncounty of Nassau can best be served by a public benefit corporation\nhaving the legal, financial and managerial flexibility to take full\nadvantage of opportunities and challenges presented by the evolving\nhealth care environment and to take whatever actions are necessary to\nenable the corporation's continuation as a system which provides the\nfinest possible quality of health care consistent with costs.\n 2. In order to accomplish the purposes recited in this section to\nprovide health care services and health facilities for the benefit of\nthe residents of the state of New York and the county of Nassau,\nincluding to persons in need of health care services without the ability\nto pay as required by law, a public benefit corporation to be known as\nthe Nassau Health Care Corporation shall be created to provide such\nservices and facilities and to otherwise carry out such purposes; that\nthe creation and operation of the Nassau health care corporation, as\nhereinafter provided, is in all respects for the benefit of the people\nof the state of New York and of the county of Nassau, and is a state,\ncounty and public purpose; and that the exercise by such corporation of\nthe functions, powers and duties as hereinafter provided constitutes the\nperformance of an essential public and governmental function.\n 3. As a free-standing public health care provider, the corporation is\nat a competitive disadvantage in the current and emerging health care\nenvironment, yet it cannot become part of a larger system of corporate\nentities while maintaining its public status. Significant investments in\nthe public assets of the corporation and its efforts to provide high\nquality health care services to medically underserved populations are\njeopardized by the corporation's inability to compete on its own and by\npotential limits on its ability to collaborate with other public and\nprivate providers, entities and individuals. The state finds that the\nbenefits of collaboration by the corporation outweigh any adverse impact\non competition. The benefits of the corporation's collaborative efforts\ninclude preserving and expanding needed health care services in its\nprimary service area; consolidating unneeded or duplicative health care\nservices; enhancing the quality of, and expanding access to, health care\ndelivered to medically underserved populations; lowering costs and\nimproving the efficiency of the health care services it delivers; and\nachieving improved reimbursement from non-governmental payors. Based on\nthe findings contained in this section, the state hereby affirmatively\nexpresses a policy to allow the corporation to engage in collaborative\nactivities consistent with its health care purposes, notwithstanding\nthat those collaborations may have the effect of displacing competition\nin the provision of hospital, physician or other health care-related\nservices. With respect to the collaborative activities contemplated in\nthis section and in subdivision ten of section thirty-four hundred five\nof this title, the corporation and the public or private entities and\nindividuals with which it collaborates shall be immunized from liability\nunder the federal and state antitrust laws.\n