(a) This Part shall be known as the “Hospital Authorities Act.”

(b) The General Assembly finds and declares that in order to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, including that of low income persons, it is necessary that counties and cities be authorized to provide adequate hospital, medical, and health care and that the provision of such care is a public purpose. Therefore, the purpose of this Part is to provide an alternate method for counties and cities to provide hospital, medical, and health care. (1943, c. 780, ss. 1, 2; 1971, c. 799; 1983, c. 775, s. 1.)