(a) There is hereby authorized the creation of the Subregional Hospital of Carolina, which shall be known hereafter as the “Subregional Hospital of Carolina”, and which is created ascribed to the Office of the Secretary of Health, the Provisional Board of the Subregional Hospital of Carolina, which shall be in charge of making the surveys and planning necessary for the establishment and operation of the Subregional Hospital of Carolina, subject to the provisions of the laws in force and using the existing survey and planning resources in the proper Department of Health.
(b) The planning of the Subregional Hospital of Carolina shall be made under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Health, but in accordance with the agreements and determinations taken by the Provisional Board of the Subregional Hospital of Carolina created by this section, and also in accordance with the provisions of §§ 331—333p of this title and the regulation in force.
The surveys, the planning and the establishment of the basis for the future operation of this Hospital shall be made with a view to offer adequate health services to the citizenry of the health services subregion of Carolina.
(c) The Health Services subregion of Carolina shall be composed in its origin of the municipalities of Carolina, Canovanas, Loiza and Trujillo Alto, it being provided that the Secretary of Health may add other adjacent municipalities or part thereof, so that the health and welfare services created under this section be made accessible to the greater number of persons and especially to the rural areas and low-income areas.
(d) The agencies participating in this Subregional Hospital of Carolina shall be the Municipal Government of Carolina, the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico through the Department of Health, and any other nonprofit institutions engaged in any phase of public health, or medical care and hospitalization, interested in being part of this Hospital, provided they meet the requirements and conditions determined by the Board herein created.
(e) The Provisional Board herein created shall be composed of five (5) members, namely; the Secretary of Health, who shall be the Chairman and an additional member appointed by him; the Mayor of Carolina and the President of the Municipal Legislature of Carolina; an additional member appointed by the Governor of Puerto Rico.
(f) The Board, through its Chairman, may execute agreements and understandings with the participant agencies and with other organizations of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico aimed at obtaining the greater efficiency and economy of the survey, planning and establishment of the standards for the future operation of the Subregional Hospital of Carolina. The participant agencies, other organizations of the Government of the Commonwealth are likewise hereby authorized to execute agreements and understandings with the Provisional Board of the Subregional Hospital of Carolina for the purposes above-mentioned.
(1) The Secretary of Health is hereby empowered, upon previous recommendation of the Board:
(A) To hire personnel and services in all the phases of survey, planning and establishment of the bases for the future operation of the Subregional Hospital of Carolina.
(B) To request and receive funds from the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the municipality of Carolina, from any other municipality, person, foundation, association or legal entity constituted for the planning, construction and operation of the pertinent facilities.
(C) To request and receive federal funds for the construction of facilities in accordance with the provisions for the construction of hospital facilities or similar laws to be approved in the future.
(2) The Municipal Government of Carolina as well as the municipal government of the municipalities included in the health services subregion of Carolina and such other areas to be determined by the Secretary of Health, as of the stipulations of this section, and the other participant entities are hereby authorized to contribute from their own means to defray the expenses which may be incurred in work of survey, planning and preparation of plans, establishment of standards for future operation of the Subregional Hospital of Carolina, and in the construction and operation of the pertinent facilities.
History —June 9, 1973, No. 132, p. 528, §§ 1—6, eff. 90 days after June 9, 1973.