Legislative intent; community-based care for the elderly.

It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage the development of programs for community-based care for the elderly as an alternative to institutionalization. The Legislature finds and declares that routine health care provided on an outpatient basis is one such program, the availability of which would fill an unmet need, improve the quality and quantity of health care available to elderly persons while minimizing the cost of such care, and reduce the incidence of unnecessary or premature institutionalization of elderly persons. The purpose of this section and s. 400.332 is to encourage the development of geriatric outpatient nurse clinics to make such services available. The Legislature intends that existing and available nursing facility treatment rooms be used for geriatric outpatient nurse clinics in order that the cost of such programs be kept low.