rick_scott_7.jpgTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ A panel appointed by Gov. Rick Scott says it couldn't determine whether Florida's public hospitals provide better or worse care than private ones.

 

Scott, who once headed the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain, created the seven-member Commission on Review of Taxpayer Funded Hospital Districts last March.

He asked the panel to determine if it's in the public's best interest to continue having government-operated hospitals.

The commission recommended a number of changes in a report submitted Tuesday to Scott and the Legislature.

But it stopped short of calling for an end to public hospitals.

A key proposal is that voters should be given a chance every eight to 12 years to determine if local hospital districts should continue receiving taxpayer funds. A spokesman said Scott was reviewing the report.