(a) The board of directors by resolution may enter into contracts for the transfer, sale, or lease of the public hospital and its facilities to a responsible corporation, hospital, health care facility, unit of local government, or institution of higher education, provided the transfer, sale, or lease does not adversely affect access to the hospital by inhabitants of the township. At least 10 days before the adoption of a resolution under this Section, the board of directors shall make the proposed resolution conveniently available for public inspection and shall hold at least one public hearing on the proposed resolution. Notice of the hearing shall be published in one or more newspapers having general circulation in the township at least 10 days before the time of the public hearing. The notice shall state the time and place of the hearing and the place where copies of the proposed resolution will be accessible for examination.
     (b) If, before the sale or lease of the hospital under this Section, a labor organization has been recognized by the hospital as the exclusive representative of the majority of employees in a bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining, and if a purchaser or lessor subject to the National Labor Relations Act retains or hires a majority of the employees in the bargaining unit, the purchaser or lessor shall recognize the labor organization as the exclusive representative of the majority of employees in that bargaining unit for purposes of collective bargaining, provided the labor organization makes a timely written assertion of its representational capacity to the purchaser or lessor.