131E-19. Incorporation of a hospital authority.

(a) After the commissioners are appointed, they shall present to the Secretary of State an application for incorporation as a hospital authority. The application shall be signed by each of the commissioners and shall set forth:

(1) That the city council or the county board of commissioners has found that it is in the interest of the public health and welfare to create a hospital authority;

(2) That the mayor or the chairman of the county board of commissioners has appointed them as commissioners;

(3) The name and official residence of each of the commissioners;

(4) A certified copy of the appointment evidencing the commissioners' right to office, and the date and place of induction into and taking of office;

(5) That they desire the hospital authority to become a public body and a body corporate and politic under this Part;

(6) The term of office of each of the commissioners;

(7) The name which is proposed for the corporation; and

(8) The location and principal office of the corporation.

(b) The Secretary of State shall examine the application. If he or she finds that the name proposed for the corporation is not identical with that of a person or of any other corporation in this State or so nearly similar so as to lead to confusion and uncertainty, the application shall be filed and recorded in the appropriate book of record in the Secretary of State's office. The Secretary of State shall then make and issue to the commissioners a certificate of incorporation pursuant to this Part, under the Seal of the State, and shall record the certificate with the application.

(c) A hospital authority's name or the location or principal office of the corporation may be changed by the adoption of a resolution by the majority of the authority's commissioners. A copy of the resolution, duly verified by the chair and secretary of the commission before an officer authorized by the laws of this State to take and certify oaths, shall be delivered to the Secretary of State, along with a conformed copy. If the Secretary of State finds that the proposed name is not identical with that of a person or any corporation of this State, or so nearly similar as to lead to confusion and uncertainty, the resolution shall be filed and recorded in the appropriate book of record in the Secretary of State's office. A resolution changing the location or principal office of the hospital authority shall be filed and recorded in the appropriate book of record in the Secretary of State's office. The Secretary of State shall then return to the authority the conformed copy, together with a certificate stating that the attached copy is a true copy of the document in the Secretary of State's office, that shows the date of filing.

(d) In any legal proceeding, a copy of the certificate of incorporation, certified by the Secretary of State, shall be admissible in evidence and shall be conclusive proof of its filing and contents and the incorporation of the hospital authority in accordance with this Part.