“While Central Florida Regional Hospital does not believe having a union is in the best interests of our hospital, we respect our employees’ rights to make this decision,” said Sandy McPherson, the hospital’s marketing director.

USF will help HCA recruit doctors to staff new trauma centers at five HCA hospitals. As the centers begin operating, HCA will send USF detailed data about procedures and results. USF will pool and analyze that data to help HCA figure out how to improve and standardize its care across the five centers. "It's an opportunity to make Floridians safer," said Stephen Klasko, dean of the USF College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health.

Scott, as former New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald put it in a recent speech, created a "cult of personality" at the company that ultimately contributed to its fall from grace. ... Last month, novelist and former investigative reporter Carl Hiaasen reprised Scott's past in a rip-roaring op-ed piece for the Miami Herald provocatively titled, "Scott is either incompetent or a lying crook." During the summer, Scott told the Herald, he "made mistakes" at Columbia/HCA and took responsibility for what happened on his watch. He denied knowledge of any fraud, however. Hiaasen wasn't buying it, writing, "The fraud was so massive and institutionalized that his statement can’t be taken seriously."

After the presentations ,which spanned five hours, board members appeared to be leaning toward the two non-profits, Florida Hospital and Orlando Health. "If we go with a for-profit, you lose autonomy," said board member Gerald Jowers. "They're going to own you lock, stock and barrel." But board member Carolyn Karraker urged members to think about it over the coming weeks. "It's important to go back to our own personal vision for the hospital," she said. "I'm still digesting what I heard today."

Vinson's ruling comes a week after District Judge George Caram Steeh in Detroit said the mandate to get insurance by 2014 and the financial penalty for skipping coverage are legal. He said Congress was trying to lower the overall cost of insurance by requiring participation. There is also a lawsuit pending in Virginia. A federal judge there has allowed the lawsuit to continue, ruling the overhaul raises complex constitutional issues.