A.G. Gancarski
At UF Health in Jacksonville on Friday, civic leaders such as Ed Burr and former mayor John Delaney, sounded the alarm about a $95 million funding shortfall that could imperil the existence of Northeast Florida’s only Level I trauma center, safety net hospital, and academic research center.
Speaking on behalf of the JAX Chamber and the Jacksonville Civic Council, the two community leaders called on state legislators, including Sen. Aaron Bean, who was in attendance, to take action to fund the facility, which could be rendered “inoperable” without sufficient funding.
“UF Health is one of the hidden gems in our community, and it really ought not to be that way,” said Delaney, current JAX Chamber chair and also on the Civic Council. “The business community can help bring attention to the fact that not only does UF Health provide an essential service with its trauma center and by treating our citizens who are uninsured and underinsured, it is a significant employer with hundreds of millions of economic impact every year.”
UF Health is the leading employer of minorities in Jacksonville, and the sixth largest employer in Northeast Florida.
Delaney added that “costs are very low at this hospital,” and without the $95 million, the facility would face a “catastrophe. You can’t function with that kind of cut.”
Ed Burr added, “Civic Council has gotten involved since this is a community issue.”
“This is not just a UF Health issue. This is an economic issue that affects our entire community,” said Burr, chairman of the Jacksonville Civic Council and of government affairs for the Chamber. “The other hospitals in Northeast Florida simply do not have the capacity to absorb the patients currently being cared for by UF Health Jacksonville and a loss of funding at the state level will be felt through our entire region.”
The facility right now runs at peak efficiency. Burr mentioned that they had a hope of a funding increase; now the hope is simply to sustain funding. “It’s imperative that we maintain the same level of funding … it’s not an expense issue. You can’t cut your way out of here.”
“This is a funding problem – this is not an expense or efficiency problem,” said Kevin Hyde, chairman of a Jacksonville Civic Council task force on UF Health. “UF Health has done an outstanding job working with the resources they have, but continues to provide tens of millions of dollars of care every year that is not paid for. Without keeping the state funding at current levels, the numbers simply don’t work.”
Hyde said “one of the first questions” faced by his “task force of about 20 people” boiled down to whether the facility can cut its way to profit, finding it’s not an option.
Another existential question, if UF Health operations were to be compromised, what happened to Medicaid patients who currently rely on the facility. Hyde said, “Other hospitals do not have the capacity to handle UF Health’s case load.”
