CAPE CORAL MEDICAL CENTER, INC., A FLORIDA NONPROFIT CORPORATION, APPELLANT,
v.
NEWS-PRESS PUBLISHING CO., INC., D/B/A FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS, APPELLEE
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Cape Coral Medical Center, a private nonprofit hospital lessee from a public health authority, appealed a summary judgment finding it subject to Florida's Sunshine Law and Public Records Law. The court affirmed, holding that the special act creating the Cape Coral Health Authority required lease agreements to comply with public disclosure provisions, thereby binding the Medical Center to those requirements.
The court held that the Cape Coral Medical Center is subject to Florida's Sunshine Law and Public Records Law because the special act creating the Cape Coral Health Authority requires lease agreements to be consistent with the act's provisions, which expressly mandate that authority records and meetings be open and available to the public in accordance with section 286.011.
[1] A special act of the legislature creating a health authority may mandate that lease agreements for its projects be consistent with the act's provisions, including disclos…
[2] A lease agreement for a project of a health authority must be consistent with the special act creating the authority, which may include public disclosure provisions.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The legislature, in creating the Cape Coral Hospital Authority, provided that the agreement of lease must be consistent with the provisions of the chapter. We interpret this requirement to include the disclosure provisions in section 4(5).”
Establishes the court's interpretation that lease agreements must comply with public disclosure requirements mandated in the special act.
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceCape Coral Medical Center leased hospital facilities from the Cape Coral Health Authority, a public entity created by special legislation. News-Press …
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
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CAMPBELL, Judge.
Cape Coral Medical Center, lessee from Cape Coral Health Authority, appeals from the entry of a final summary judgment which determined the Medical Center to be a public agency and, therefore, subject to section 286.011, Florida Statutes (1979), the Sunshine Law, and section 119.01, Florida Statutes (1979), the Public Records Law. News-Press Publishing Co. cross-appeals from an order striking its request for attorney’s fees.
We have examined the Medical Center’s appeal and find that we are not required to address here whether every nonprofit private lessee from a governmental, hospital authority lessor is required to disclose its records pursuant to section 119.01, Florida Statutes (1979), and/or section 286.011, Florida Statutes (1979). The legislature has provided an answer in this particular case through chapter 75-354, Laws of Florida, the special act which created the Cape Coral Health Authority.
Chapter 75-354, Laws of Florida, provides the following:
Section 4.
(5) ... All meetings of the authority1 as well as all records, books, documents and papers shall be open and available to the public in accordance with s. 286.011, Florida Statutes. Section 1.... The authority may lease a project or projects to a health facility2 for operation and maintenance in such manner as to effectuate the purposes of this act, under an agreement of lease in form and substance not inconsistent herewith.... (Emphasis added.)
The legislature, in creating the Cape Coral Hospital Authority, provided that the agreement of lease must be consistent with the provisions of the chapter.3 We interpret this requirement to include the disclosure provisions in section 4(5).4 Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s entry of summary judgment.
Although we affirm the entry of summary judgment, we do find merit in News-Press’ cross-appeal.
In its complaint News-Press requested attorney’s fees as provided for in sections 119.12(1) and 286.011(4), Florida Statutes. The Cape Coral Medical Center moved to strike the request for attorney’s fees. The court granted the motion to strike prior to the hearing on the motion for summary judgment.
Section 119.12(1), Florida Statutes, provided for an award of attorney’s fees to the plaintiff if the court finds that the agency-defendant unreasonably refused to permit inspection of its records. Section 286.011(4), Florida Statutes, provides for an award of attorney’s fees when the court finds that the agency violated section 286.-011.5 Each of these provisions for an award of attorney’s fees involves a question of fact. A trial court may properly determine a factual question on a motion for summary judgment but not on a motion to strike.
Accordingly, we remand to the trial court for re-examination of the issue of attorney’s fees. We affirm the final summary judgment.
SCHEB, C. J., and GRIMES, J., concur. . Section 3.
(2) “Authority” or “health facilities authority” means the public corporation created by this act or any board, body, commission, or department of a county or municipality, succeeding to the principal functions thereof or to whom the powers conferred upon each authority by this act shall be given by law.
. Section 3.
(8) “Health facility” means any private corporation organized not for profit or any public corporation authorized by law to provide hospital or nursing home care services ....
. The legislature is able to provide for disclosure and has done so here. The legislature could also eliminate the disclosure requirement if it so desired.
. Although chapter 75-354, section 4(5), Laws of Florida, expressly refers to only section 286.-011, Florida Statutes, the language of section 4(5) referring to “records, books, documents and papers” implies compliance by the Authority with the requirements of chapter 119. Also the Authority, by its definition, falls within section 119.011(2), Florida Statutes. See footnote 1.
.As the policy behind chapter 119 and the policy behind section 286.011 are similar, we believe that they should be read in pari mate-ria. In so reading these provisions, we find that the violation necessary for an award of attorney’s fees under section 286.011(4) is an unreasonable violation just as the refusal to permit inspection necessary for an award of attorney’s fees under section 119.12(1) is an unreasonable refusal.
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Douglas v. Dyer Michel & Custodian of the records of the Marion Cnty. Hosp. Dist., 410 So. 2d 936 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982)…egislature, not the courts. The appellant’s motion for attorney fees requires a finding by the trial court that the hospital unreasonably refused to permit the inspection of its records. Cape Coral Medical Center, Inc. v. News-Press Publishing Co., 390 So. 2d 1216 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). The record shows only that the hospital administration acted upon advice of counsel and at the direction of the hospital trustees. Upon remand, if the lower court determines the hospital acted unreasonably in denying access to th…
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News-Press Publ'g Co., Inc. v. Gadd, 432 So. 2d 689 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)…cy refusal to have been unreasonable. That is a fact question for the trial court and will not be disturbed on appeal unless the finding by the trial court is unsupported by the evidence. Cape Coral Medical Center, Inc. v. News-Press Publishing Co., 390 So. 2d 1216 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980); Jones v. Miami Herald Publishing Co., 416 So. 2d 480 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982). [*690] In this case, there is evidence to support the finding of the trial court. The merits of this case have twice before been before this court. See Gadd…
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Jones v. The Miami Herald Publ'g Co., 416 So. 2d 480 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)…his Internal Review files was unreasonable so as to justify an award of attorney’s fees under Section 119.12(1), Florida Statutes (1977) was a question of fact for the trial court. Cape Coral Medical Center, Inc. v. News-Press Publishing Co., Inc., 390 So. 2d 1216, 1218 (Fla. 2d DCA 1980). The finding of unreasonableness was not contrary to the manifest weight or legal effect of the evidence, Whitman v. Pet Incorporated, 335 So. 2d 577 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), cert. denied, 348 So. 2d 951 (Fla.1977), and must be a…