392.6 Hospital or health care facility trustees.

1. If a hospital or health care facility is established by a city, the city shall by ordinance provide for the election, at a special election held pursuant to section 39.2, subsection 4, paragraph “b”, of three trustees, whose terms of office shall be four years. However, at the first election, three shall be elected and hold their office, one for four years and two for two years, and they shall by lot determine their respective terms. A candidate for hospital or health care facility trustee must be a resident of the hospital or health care facility service area within the boundaries of the state at the time of the election at which the person’s name appears on the ballot. A board of trustees elected pursuant to this section shall serve as the sole and only board of trustees for any and all institutions established by a city as provided for in this section.

2. The administration and management of an institution as provided for in this section is vested in a board of trustees consisting of three, five, or seven members. A three-member board may be expanded to a five-member board, and a five-member board may be expanded to a seven-member board. Expansion of the membership of the board shall occur only on approval of a majority of the current board of trustees. The additional members shall be appointed by the current board of trustees. One appointee shall serve until the next succeeding general or regular city election, at which time a successor shall be elected, and the other appointee shall serve until the second succeeding general or regular city election, at which time a successor shall be elected. The determination of which election an appointed additional member shall be required to seek election shall be determined by lot. Thereafter, the terms of office of such additional members shall be four years.

3. a. Terms of office of trustees elected pursuant to general or regular city elections shall begin at noon on the first day in January which is not a Sunday or legal holiday. Terms of office of trustees appointed to fill a vacancy or elected pursuant to special elections shall begin at noon on the tenth day after appointment or the special election which is not a Sunday or legal holiday. The trustees shall begin their terms of office by taking the oath of office, and organize as a board by the election of one trustee as chairperson, one trustee as treasurer, and one trustee as secretary. Terms of office of trustees shall extend to noon on the first day in January which is not a Sunday or legal holiday or until their successors are elected and qualified.

b. Vacancies on the board of trustees may, until the next general or regular city election, be filled in the same manner as provided in section 347.10. An appointment made under this paragraph shall be for the unexpired balance of the term of the preceding trustee. If a board member is absent for four consecutive regular board meetings, without prior excuse, or fails to comply with more stringent attendance requirements for regular board meetings included in the bylaws governing the board, the member’s position shall be declared vacant and filled as set out in this paragraph.

4. A trustee shall not receive any compensation for services performed under this chapter, but a trustee shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in performance of the trustee’s duties.

5. The board of trustees shall be vested with authority to provide for the management, control, and government of the city hospital or health care facility established as permitted by this section, and shall provide all needed rules for the economic conduct thereof and shall annually prepare a condensed statement of the total receipts and expenditures for the hospital or health care facility and cause the same to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city in which the hospital or health care facility is located.

6. Boards of trustees of institutions provided for in this section are granted all of the powers and duties necessary for the management, control, and government of the institutions, specifically including but not limited to any applicable powers and duties granted boards of trustees under other provisions of the Code relating to hospitals, nursing homes, assisted or independent living services, and other ancillary services irrespective of the chapter of the Code under which such institutions are established, organized, operated, or maintained, unless such provisions are in conflict with this section.

[S13, §741-o, -p; C24, §5867 – 5871; C27, 31, 35, §5867, 5867-a1, 5868 – 5871; C39, §5867, 5867.1, 5868 – 5871; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, §380.1 – 380.6; C71, 73, §380.1 – 380.6, 380.16; C75, 77, 79, 81, §392.6]

94 Acts, ch 1034, §1; 96 Acts, ch 1080, §1, 2; 99 Acts, ch 36, §11; 2000 Acts, ch 1015, §1; 2003 Acts, ch 9, §1, 2; 2009 Acts, ch 110, §16; 2018 Acts, ch 1033, §7

Referred to in §12B.10

Removal from office, §66.1A, 66.31

Subsection 3, paragraph b amended