131E-23. Powers of the authority.

(a) An authority shall have all powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this Part, including the following powers, which are in addition to those powers granted elsewhere in this Part:

(1) To investigate hospital, medical, and health conditions and the means of improving those conditions;

(2) To determine where inadequate hospital and medical facilities exist;

(3) To accept donations or money, personal property, or real estate for the benefit of the authority and to take title to the same from any person, firm, corporation or society;

(4) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, lease, condemnation, or otherwise any existing hospital facilities;

(5) To purchase, lease, obtain options upon, or otherwise acquire any real or personal property or any interest therein from any person, firm, corporation, city, county, or government;

(6) To sell, exchange, transfer, assign, or pledge any real or personal property or any interest therein to any person, firm, corporation, city, county or government;

(7) To own, hold, clear and improve property;

(8) To borrow money upon its bonds, notes, debentures, or evidences of indebtedness, as provided for in G.S. 131E-26 and G.S. 131E-27;

(9) To purchase real or personal property pursuant to G.S. 131E-32;

(10) To appoint an administrator of a hospital facility and necessary assistants, and any and all other employees necessary or advisable, to fix their compensation, to adopt necessary rules governing their employment, and to remove employees;

(11) To delegate to its agents or employees any powers or duties as it may deem appropriate;

(12) To employ its own counsel and legal staff;

(13) To adopt, amend and repeal bylaws for the conduct of its business;

(14) To enter into contracts for necessary supplies, equipment, or services for the operation of its business;

(15) To appoint committees or subcommittees as it shall deem advisable, to fix their duties and responsibilities, and to do all things necessary in connection with the construction, repair, reconstruction, management, supervision, control and operation of the authority's business;

(16) To establish procedures for health care providers to secure the privilege of practicing within any hospital operated by the authority pursuant to Part 3 of Article 5 of this Chapter;

(17) To establish reasonable rules governing the conduct of health care providers while on duty in any hospital operated by the facility pursuant to Part 3 of Article 5 of this Chapter;

(18) To provide for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, alteration or repair of any hospital facility, or any part of a facility;

(19) To enter into any contracts or other arrangements with any municipality, other public agency of this or any other State or of the United States, or with any individual, private organization, or nonprofit association for the provision of hospital, clinical, or similar services;

(20) To lease any hospital facilities to or from any municipality, other public agency of this or any other state or of the United States, or to any individual, corporation, or association upon any terms and subject to any conditions as may carry out the purposes of this Part. The authority may provide for the lessee to use, operate, manage and control the hospital facilities, and to exercise designated powers, in the same manner as the authority itself might do;

(21) To act as an agent for the federal, State or local government in connection with the acquisition, construction, operation or management of a hospital facility, or any part thereof;

(22) To arrange with the State, its subdivisions and agencies, and any county or city, to the extent it is within the scope of their respective functions,

a. To cause the services customarily provided by each to be rendered for the benefit of the hospital authority,

b. To furnish, plan, replan, install, open or close streets, roads, alleys, sidewalks or similar facilities and to acquire property, options or property rights for the furnishing of property or services for a hospital facility, and

c. To provide and maintain parks and sewage, water and other facilities for hospital facilities and to lease and rent any of the dwellings or other accommodations or any of the lands, buildings, structures or facilities embraced in any hospital facility and to establish and revise the rents and charges;

(23) To insure the property or the operations of the authority against risks as the authority may deem advisable;

(24) To invest any funds held in reserves or sinking funds, or any funds not required for immediate disbursement, in property or securities in which trustees, guardians, executors, administrators, and others acting in a fiduciary capacity may legally invest funds under their control;

(25) To sue and be sued;

(26) To have a seal and to alter it at pleasure;

(27) To have perpetual succession;

(28) To make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of the powers of the authority;

(29) To remove vehicles parked on land owned or leased by the hospital authority in areas clearly designated as no parking or restricted parking zones. An owner of a removed vehicle as a condition of regaining possession of the vehicle, shall reimburse the hospital authority for all reasonable costs, not to exceed fifty dollars ($50.00), incidental to the removal and storage of the vehicle provided that the designation of the area as a no parking or restricted parking zone clearly indicates that the owner may be subject to these costs;

(30) To plan and operate hospital facilities;

(31) To provide teaching and instruction programs and schools for medical students, interns, physicians, nurses, technicians and other health care professionals;

(32) To provide and maintain continuous resident physician and intern medical services;

(33) To adopt, amend and repeal rules and regulations governing the admission of patients and the care, conduct, and treatment of patients;

(34) To establish a fee schedule for services received from hospital facilities and make the services available regardless of ability to pay;

(35) To maintain and operate isolation wards for the care and treatment of mental, contagious, or other similar diseases;

(36) To sell a hospital facility pursuant to G.S. 131E-8 or G.S. 131E-13; and

(37) To agree to limitations upon the exercise of any powers conferred upon the hospital authority by this Part in connection with any loan by a government.

(38) To engage in health care activities outside the State.

(b) A hospital authority may exercise any or all of the powers conferred upon it by this Part, either generally or with respect to any specific hospital facility or facilities, through or by designated agents, including any corporation or corporations which are or shall be formed under the laws of this State.

(c) Expired pursuant to Session Laws 1983, c. 775, s. 1.

(d) No provisions with respect to the acquisition, operation or disposition of property by other public bodies shall be applicable to a hospital authority unless otherwise specified by the General Assembly.