Citrus County Hospital Board v. Citrus Memorial Health Foundation, Inc.

Summary

The court affirmed the First District's determination that the Foundation could invoke the Florida Constitution's Contract Clause and that the special law unconstitutionally impaired the Foundation's contracts with the Hospital Board. The court held that the Foundation remained a distinct not-for-profit corporation despite its public function, public funding, and relationship with the Hospital Board, and that the special law substantially transferred control of the Foundation to the Hospital Board and imposed additional obligations not found in the parties' agreements. Justice Canady, dissenting, would have treated the Foundation as a public corporation subject to legislative control and would have quashed the First District's decision.