§ 3631 — Special powers of the corporation

§ 3631. Special powers of the corporation. In order to effectuate the\npurposes of this title, the corporation shall have the following\nadditional powers, except as limited by this title, the public health\nlaw, the mental hygiene law, the social services law, the education law,\nthe civil practice law and rules, and any other applicable law or\nregulation:\n 1. To operate, manage, superintend, and control any health facility\nunder its jurisdiction and to repair, maintain, and otherwise keep up\nany such health facility, and to establish, collect, and adjust fees,\nrentals, and other charges for the sale, lease, or sublease of any such\nhealth facility or real property, subject to the terms and conditions of\nany contract, lease, sublease, or other agreement with the county;\n 2. To provide health and medical services for the public, directly or\nby agreement or lease with any person, firm, partnership, limited\nliability company, or private or public corporation or association\nthrough or in the health facilities of the corporation or otherwise, and\nto make internal policies governing admissions and health and medical\nservices; and to establish, collect, and adjust fees and other charges\nfor the provision of such health and medical services; and to provide\nand maintain training programs for resident physicians, post-graduate\nclinical fellows, graduate students, other allied health professionals\nand intern medical services; and to sponsor and conduct research,\neducational, and training programs;\n 3. To provide uncompensated care to persons in need of health care\nservices without the ability to pay;\n 4. To provide, maintain, and operate a medical transport service;\nprovided, however, that nothing in this section shall prohibit the\ncorporation from adopting a schedule of charges for medical transport;\n 5. To participate in managed care networks, fee-for-service, and other\njoint and cooperative arrangements for the provision of general\ncomprehensive and specialty health care services, directly or through\ncontract with other service providers or entities;\n 6. To establish subsidiary corporations or other entities in\naccordance with subdivision nine of this section:\n (a) to meet the demands of health care delivery changes; and\n (b) to market, manufacture, or develop products or services developed\nby the corporation's clinical and research activities;\n 7. To enter into contracts, leases, subleases, and other agreements\nfor the purpose of affiliating with a medical college or colleges,\nincluding the state university of New York, in conjunction with the\ncorporation's health facilities, which agreements may provide for the\nmanagement, operation, and staffing of health facilities, the\nreconstruction, renovation, or addition to health facilities; the\nprovision of necessary facilities, utilities, and services; and such\nother conditions or features necessary and proper for such purpose and\nfor the public health and general welfare;\n 8. To determine the conditions under which a physician may be extended\nthe privilege of practicing within a health facility under the\njurisdiction of the corporation, to promulgate reasonable internal\npolicies for the conduct of all persons, physicians, and allied health\npractitioners within such facility, and to appoint and grant privileges\nto qualified and competent clinical practitioners; and\n 9. (a) Except as provided in this subdivision or as expressly limited\nby any applicable state law or regulation, to exercise and perform all\nor part of its purposes, powers, duties, functions, or activities\nthrough one or more subsidiary corporations or companies owned or\ncontrolled wholly or in part by the corporation, which shall be formed\npursuant to the business corporation law, the limited liability company\nlaw, or the not-for-profit corporation law, in each case subject to all\nthe limitations provided in this title.\n (b) Any such subsidiary may be authorized to act as a general or\nlimited partner in a partnership or as a member of a limited liability\ncompany and to enter into an arrangement calling for an initial and\nsubsequent payment by such subsidiary in consideration of an interest in\nrevenues or other contractual rights.\n (c) No subsidiary of the corporation shall own, operate, manage, or\ncontrol the existing acute inpatient and outpatient facilities and\nservices in operation as part of the Erie County Medical Center\nhealthcare network on the effective date of this title.\n (d) An entity shall be deemed a subsidiary corporation or company\nwhenever and so long as: (i) more than half of any voting shares of such\nsubsidiary are owned or held by the corporation or (ii) a majority of\nthe directors, trustees, or members of such subsidiary are designees of\nthe corporation.\n 10. As set forth in section thirty-six hundred twenty-six of this\ntitle, the creation and operation of the Erie County Medical Center\nCorporation is in all respects for the benefit of the people of the\nstate of New York and of the county of Erie and is a state, county, and\npublic purpose. The exercise by such corporation of the functions,\npowers, and duties provided in this title constitutes the performance of\nan essential public and governmental function. The corporation has\nadvised that it intends to continue engaging in certain collaborative\nactivities with, and limited to, the other parties to the Great Lakes\nHealth, Inc. Restated Binding Agreement of 2012 and the University at\nBuffalo of the State University of New York for the purpose of promoting\nimproved quality of and access to health care services and improved\nclinical outcomes, consisting of: (a) development of a non-exclusive\njoint health information technology platform; (b) joint marketing of\nhealth care services; (c) joint purchasing of services, supplies and\nequipment related to the provision of health care services; (d)\ndevelopment of a joint set of clinical quality standards; (e)\ncoordination and integration of clinical services to reduce redundancy\nand increase efficiency; (f) joint management of graduate medical\neducation and academic affiliations; and (g) joint discussions with\nrural hospitals regarding the possibility of coordinating and\nintegrating clinical services. To promote improved quality of and access\nto health care services and improved clinical outcomes, and consistent\nwith the corporation's furtherance of its health care purposes through\nthe exercise of the special powers exercised pursuant to this section\nand the general powers exercised pursuant to this title, it is the\npolicy of the state to supplant competition for the purpose of\nimmunizing the planning and implementation of the enumerated activities\nby the corporation in collaboration with any one of the aforementioned\nentities from liability under the federal and state antitrust laws, to\nthe extent that such collaborative activities are reflected in\nagreements executed by two or more of the aforementioned entities during\nsuch time as the Great Lakes Health, Inc. Restated Binding Agreement of\n2012 remains in effect; provided, however, that nothing in this\nsubdivision shall be construed to extend such declaration of policy to\nany activities other than those specifically enumerated and described\nherein, which remain subject to any and all applicable state and federal\nantitrust laws.\n