The board of supervisors of the county of San Luis Obispo does hereby find and declare that, at the time of enactment of Title 28:

(1) General Hospital is a county hospital that is owned and operated by the county of San Luis Obispo.

(2) The county board of supervisors serves as the governing board of General Hospital.

(3) General Hospital is licensed by the state of California as a general acute care hospital. The license authorizes the following:

(A) Seventy-eight licensed general acute care beds, including seven pediatric beds, fourteen perinatal beds, five intensive care beds, and fifty-two unspecified general acute care beds;

(B) Fourteen licensed acute psychiatric beds;

(C) Basic emergency services, respiratory care services, outpatient services, physical therapy services, and social services.

(4) The Family Care Centers are outpatient clinics that are licensed as part of General Hospital, with facilities at San Luis Obispo and Atascadero.

(5) Due to the challenges facing the county arising from nation-wide, statewide, and local changes in the public and private health industries, it may be possible to provide the services now provided by General Hospital and the Family Care Centers in a more efficient, effective, and economical manner by providing those services through a hospital authority that is independent of the county.

(6) The creation of an independent hospital authority strictly and exclusively dedicated to the management, administration, and control of General Hospital and the Family Care Centers may be the best way for the county to provide medical services to the medically indigent, special needs, and general populations of San Luis Obispo County in a manner consistent with the county’s obligations under Section 17000 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and in a manner that constitutes an ongoing material benefit to the county and its residents.

(7) The board of supervisors has the authority to create a hospital authority for these purposes, as set forth in Section 101827 of the Health and Safety Code ("Section 101827"). (Ord. 2903 § 1 (part), 2000)