A legislative battle over the future of Broward County’s public health care systems has hit a significant roadblock.
The controversial bill that would empower Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System — two separate health taxing districts — to bypass antitrust laws and launch joint ventures was “temporarily postponed” in the Senate Community Affairs Committee on Feb. 3, 2026. By all accounts, it is dead, at least for this year.
This development marks a pivotal moment for the legislation, and potentially for all Florida health districts.
Supporters — led by Broward Health and Memorial’s shared CEO Shane Strum — frame the bill as a vital tool to expand health care services in Broward and cut administrative waste. However, a coalition of critics has branded it a “backdoor merger” that threatens to shield taxpayer-funded entities from public accountability. With the legislative session already racing toward its March 13 conclusion, it appears that Strum’s “Better Together” vision, reflected in the bill, may be facing the same quiet death that claimed a similar proposal just one year ago.
While Strum holds that the collaboration and partnerships the bill would allow between Broward’s two health districts are absolutely necessary at a time when competition abounds, he has encountered a formidable foe.
HCA Healthcare, one of the largest hospital companies in the country, has an influential lobby in Tallahassee and opposes the bill. HCA has four hospitals in Broward County, two freestanding Emergency Departments and a third one underway.
“When taxpayer-funded hospital systems seek to consolidate power and gain broad immunity from oversight, the public deserves a seat at the table,” said Charles Gressle, president of HCA East Florida Division. “This proposal weakens competition, evades accountability, and limits patient choices with serious long-term consequences for the quality, cost, and accessibility of care. As public tax districts, these hospital systems are required to put a merger before the voters, so Broward taxpayers can decide whether it is truly in their best interest.”
The politics of the bill have surprised even seasoned legislators.
This legislative session, in his second attempt at this bill, Strum found an influential sponsor in Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota. Though Gruters is not from Broward, he is a savvy legislator, a long-time ally of President Donald Trump and president of the Republican National Committee. But when the bill was scheduled for its first Senate committee hearing, Gruters was nowhere to be seen. Rather than discussing the proposal, Republican Sen. Stan McClain, chair of the Senate Community Affairs Committee, announced at the meeting’s start that discussion and a vote would be temporarily postponed, usually a sign of a bill’s imminent death.
On almost every bill, the sponsor, aided by lobbyists, informally counts heads to make sure the votes are there before a committee takes it up.
“I got a lot of pushback,” Gruters later told the Sun Sentinel.
Committee member Sen. Shevrin Jones of Miami said in his 13 years in the Legislature, he had never seen such a high-profile bill get brushed aside before discussion.
“I do not believe the issue is going away,” he said, “I just think there was not enough time for it to be vetted.”
What now?
Strum told the Sun Sentinel he will continue to push for the legislation, acknowledging it will not happen this year, attributing that to “private competitors who view collaboration between Broward’s two public systems as a threat to their market share.” He believes legislation remains necessary so that Memorial and Broward Health, which operate 11 hospitals in the county, can pool resources and work together to meet the community’s needs without being sued.
“Memorial and Broward Health cannot meet all needs without the ability to collaborate and pool resources, but doing so today creates real risk that competitors could bring antitrust lawsuits. Pooling resources would allow us to share physicians, expand specialty care, and serve more patients,” he said.
“This session’s pause is a setback for patients, but it does not change our commitment,” he said. “We’re not walking away from this effort or from the families who need us.”
The proposed 2026 bill is broader than last year’s version.
Although the bill was initiated by leaders of Broward’s health districts, its broad language would apply to every hospital district in the state, potentially allowing health systems funded by locally levied property taxes to jointly operate across district and county lines. It also allows any party, including for-profit corporations, that enters into a deal with a hospital district to have broad state-action immunity from antitrust and related oversight laws. These new powers would override conflicting provisions of existing law.
Most Broward residents are unaware of the bill and its effect on their public health care systems. Several legislators from South Florida told the Sun Sentinel they wanted to learn more before committing their support.
The opposition
In providing background on the bill, HCA said it could allow publicly funded hospitals to coordinate services, share operations, or effectively operate as a single system across multiple counties. Additionally, HCA said, it opens the door to multi-county, taxpayer-supported health care systems operating under special-district authority, including for-profit ventures, while granting sweeping immunity from antitrust and other laws.
An online text and social media campaign called Taxpayers for Healthcare Accountability had rallied against the bill. The group views the bill’s stall in the Legislature as a victory for public oversight and advocates that any major structural changes to Broward hospital systems still require public hearings or even a voter referendum.
“Changes this big should not be rushed through Tallahassee without transparency, strong protections, and a vote by the people who pay the bills,” the campaign’s messaging asserts. “It would let taxpayer-funded hospital districts merge operations and even run for-profit businesses together — without the usual oversight meant to prevent monopolies.”
What legislators think
Rep. Hillary Cassel, a Republican from Dania Beach and the bill’s sponsor in the House, said the proposed legislation stalled due to confusion and misinformation about its intent, amplified by a well-funded opposition campaign. In the House, it went to a subcommittee but did not advance.
But she hasn’t given up.
“Going forward, I am open to a broader local process, including additional public workshops, public questions, and clear reporting back to the Broward delegation,” Cassel said. “The bill would have helped public hospitals work together so residents could get better care closer to home.”
Sen. Rosalind Osgood, whose district covers several high-poverty areas in Broward County, said she would like residents’ input. She wants to see better health care for all Broward residents. “I’m sorry that we didn’t at least get an opportunity to have conversations and to hear different perspectives about the bill.”
“You have HCA, which works a lot on the west side, and they do a very good job, but most of the indigent people are on the east side,” Osgood said. “So I see it as an opportunity to have the public hospital districts come together for efficiencies in the way they purchase supplies, efficiencies in contracts, and a better service delivery model for the people they serve. I want to have conversations and hear different thoughts and perspectives.”
Osgood said after the session ends, she will host meetings with her constituents. “I’m going to begin to have community meetings, to have a conversation about improving the service delivery model,” she said. “I want to see what the community’s mindset is about this and explain to them what’s going on.”
To be sure, this year’s attempt to get a bill approved has been more public than last year’s. Strum presented the proposed law at an Oct. 27 meeting of the Broward Legislative Delegation held in the Memorial Regional Hospital conference center in Hollywood, using “Better Together” language and marketing.
But legislators want more community education and support — and a more thorough understanding of what changes the bill would allow, more information than what was presented.
“I think that there should be public education … hearings, meetings, discussions, or town halls. Something so that you can get a sense of where people are … go about the process the right way,” said State Rep. Kelly Skidmore, a Democrat whose district is in Palm Beach County. “If there is opposition from HCA or anyone else, it should be out in the open.
“Legislators need to be educated on why the change is necessary, what it means, and then they can make the decision that’s best for their community,” she said.
Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, who represents Northwest Broward County, echoes that sentiment, noting that the bill affects districts outside Broward as well.
“I need to have a better understanding of the impact it would have not just in our area but in any area and what it would mean for how the districts would operate,” she said. “But additionally, an incredibly important component is what does the public think about this? What do my constituents think about this? What are the impacts, because you know these are taxpayer funds?”
Hunschofsky said neither Broward residents nor most other legislators are aware of the bill. “There have been no detailed discussions that I know of.”
Next steps
Going forward, Broward Health leadership plans to continue its efforts to push for legislation, the only way to address the antitrust issues.
“Anybody who thinks that the two districts and their boards are not going to continue to try to pursue greater efficiencies and greater collaboration opportunities through a legislative edict or within the boundaries of what they’re already allowed to do, they would be fooled,” said Ron Book, lobbyist for the Broward Health districts. “Our goal is to continue to meet the community needs.”
Strum said it’s important to note that the Broward Legislative Delegation did not reject this bill. “Several members simply asked for more time and information,” he said.
“The lesson this year is that we have to keep elevating the voices of patients, physicians, local leaders, and residents who rely on Broward’s public hospitals, so policymakers understand that Broward Health and Memorial are simply asking for the same ability to work together that private systems already use.”
Currently, each taxpayer-funded health district in Broward is overseen by separate boards of commissioners appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. With Griffin Road roughly serving as the dividing line, county property owners in the north and south are taxed at different rates for health care needs. Memorial has been significantly better funded and taxes at a lower rate.
Critics assert that the bill is an attempt by Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare, which are currently managed by the same CEO, to merge and bypass public scrutiny, regulatory review and possibly a countywide referendum required under state law.
“The bill does not authorize a merger or expand taxing authority,” Strum said. “We would remain two separate systems. Any collaboration would be transparent, conducted under Florida’s Sunshine Laws and subject to public oversight.”
So far, it appears Broward voters don’t want to see changes in their public health care systems.
When 500 likely voters in Broward County were surveyed by The Tyson Group researchers in December and asked whether the North and South Broward Hospital Districts should be allowed to change how they operate “without triggering the legal requirements, transparency, or voter approval normally required for a full merger,” nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) said no, including 62% who said “definitely no.” Only 16% say the districts should be allowed.
Regardless, Strum said he plans to keep fighting for the bill, which he believes would help get every Broward family the care they need.
South Florida Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com.