by David Chapman
Staff Writer
State Rep. Janet Adkins is doing what she can through the Florida House of Representatives to make sure Baker County’s Northeast Florida Hospital remains just that — in the hands of Baker County.
Adkins, several of her peers within the Florida House and a host of Baker County officials and workers are fighting to keep the hospital — the largest employer and economic engine in the county — from becoming a privatized entity.
“It’s a very important issue for the Northeast Florida community and economy,” said Adkins, a Florida House freshman whose district includes parts of Bradford, Clay and Duval counties as well as all of Baker, Nassau and Union counties.
Baker County officials are not keen on the idea of seeing their public hospital become privately operated.
“The hospital is a vital part of our community, is efficiently run and has a proven record of providing superior mental health care to an untold number of patients,” said Baker County Commission Chairman Mike Griffis, who made the trip to Tallahassee for Tuesday’s Full Appropriations Council on General Government and Health Care Committee meeting.
After working to remove privatization language last week at the committee level, it was brought back Friday. Adkins filed four amendments during Tuesday’s Full Appropriations Council, withdrawing three to have further discussion, and having one die following a substitute amendment filed by State Rep. Denise Grimsley of Sebring.
Grimsley’s substitute amendment will allow a request for proposal for privatization while allowing the Department of Children and Families, which currently operates the hospital, the option to bid.
Under such provision, if privatized the first preference would be for continued employment under the new contractor. For those who choose not to remain with the hospital, the department shall make “all reasonable efforts” to find job placement within the state.
“Her (Grimsley’s) amendment was better for Baker County,” said Adkins, in an interview after the meeting. “We (Adkins and Baker County officials) met with her twice and will be working with her to help this area.”
Grimsley’s amendment passed, but not before much discussion from House members and a call for more debate and research on how privatization would affect people in Baker County.
“This is the best of some bad options,” said State Rep. Juan Zapata of Miami, during the committee meeting, while noting the effects of a privatized hospital within his district. “It’s not an apples to apples comparison ... the impact is significant not only on an economic basis, but in the fiber of the community and that needs to be debated and discussed.”
Adkins said she withdrew her other three amendments — regarding the Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability to review cost effectiveness of current privatization policies; for the Department of Children and Families to convert bed contracts with mental health facilities capacity to utilization; and for the DCF to issue new request for proposals for all privatized contracts to maximize budgetary savings — for additional discussions with Grimsley and others.
As well as being considered the backbone of that community, Adkins said the facility has received numerous awards and high praise for its patient care. With such credentials, she is curious as to who is behind the push toward privatization.
“That’s the $64,000 question,” she said. “I wish I knew who was pushing it.”
Grimsley said during the committee meeting that she’ll continue working with Adkins and Baker County to “move forward with what’s best for Baker County,” while saying she’d offer another amendment to address some of Baker County’s concerns toward privatization.
Adkins, though, will still press for more discussion on behalf of the patients and taxpayers.
“If the budget is the primary concern, we need to have a lot more debate about it as well as OPPAGA reviews,” she said. “I’m optimistic that the utilization amendment would help financially ... the taxpayers of Northeast Florida expect us to use tax dollars wisely.”
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