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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
In Tallahassee town hall, progressives talk of concerns over TMH sale talks
A panel of Democrats, including the progressive wing of local elected officials and the county commission's longest-serving member, gathered in a "town hall" to ruminate on the future of Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare. A small crowd of about 30 people braved a downpour the evening of June 5 to listen to Tallahassee City Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter and Leon County Commissioners David O'Keefe and Bill Proctor, with Leon County Democratic Party chair Ryan Ray moderating. Ray is also Matlow's commission aide. After city leaders recently signaled they might consider a sale of TMH and all its assets, Florida State University immediately made its interest in purchasing the hospital known, hoping to put it under the FSU Health umbrella and get one step closer to creating an academic medical center. The possibility of the sale of the community-owned hospital has many displeased: "What we're looking at is a few hot headed men, some at Florida State, some at the City of Tallahassee, (who are) in a power struggle to meet their individual goals," Matlow told the audience at the American Legion hall at Lake Ella. "... What we're trying to say is, we need to be having a broader conversation about community goals, because what we would like to do is work with Florida State to see how we can expand academic medicine in our community," he added. The town hall was the latest in an ongoing citywide debate, sparked by a city commission agenda item that in part said "... staff will also explore the feasibility and potential advantages of a possible sale of the property, considering all available options and approaches." After the agenda item, FSU dropped a letter declaring interest in seeing TMH become an academic medical center, commonly referred to as a "teaching hospital," presumably under the FSU Health banner. For his part, Ray said he invited others from City Hall, TMH and FSU to join the forum. They didn't show. O'Keefe likened the TMH/City/FSU drama to a family argument among elected officials: "If we have a major issue with a family member, doesn't mean we throw them out. We agree with them on one thing; we don't agree with another. But that doesn't mean we just give up and do everything that 'Uncle FSU' wants to do." One person in the audience asked Porter which city commissioners voted to put up TMH for sale. She quickly provided clarification. "Technically, the hospital is not for sale," she said. "As far as I know, part of the problem with this process is that a lot of it has been happening behind the scenes without commissioners' or the public's awareness. "But that has not come to us for a vote, to initiate a sale, though it does seem that those conversations have been happening behind the scenes between the city, the city manager and the mayor and FSU," she added. City Manager Reese Goad wasn't immediately available for comment. Proctor, first elected in 1996 to represent the county's south-side District 1, suggested that if the discussion does go the way of a teaching hospital, FAMU should be included as well. So far, a partnership among the three entities hasn't been brought up. Discussion wound up veering in different directions later in the town hall, encompassing goings-on in state government, the new Florida A&M president-elect, even Blueprint's portion of funds for the remodeling of Doak Campbell Stadium to be finished this summer. And while a TMH discussion is not on the agenda, the city commission is still scheduled to meet June 11 at City Hall. This story contains previously published material. Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@ and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 'Uncle FSU' and TMH: Local Democrats resist idea of hospital takeover
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Say Hello to FSU Health
FSU Health will be built on this St. Joe Co.-owned parcel in Panama City Beach. (Photo via The St. Joe Co.) Florida State University has been given the green light by the state Board of Governors to issue $414 million in bonds to finance a new hospital in Panama City Beach as it brands its presence in Northwest Florida as FSU Health. The FSU Board of Trustees approved the proposal hours before the Board of Governors gave final approval. Project planning and design have not been completed but BOG documents show that the project, including design, construction, and equipment for a five-floor, 340,000 square foot facility, are projected to total $328 million. The Panama City Beach hospital will initially open with 80 beds and four operating rooms to support orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, gynecology, and general surgery. FSU Health in Panama City's footprint will eventually be able to accommodate up to 600 beds. The hospital will be built on an undeveloped 18-acre parcel of land donated by The St. Joe Co. adjacent to a new urgent care facility that Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare built called TMH Physician Partners and Urgent Care facility. Documents show FSU intends to enter into a long-term lease and management agreement with TMH to manage day-to-day operations. TMH will make lease payments to FSU in an amount greater than or equal to the annual debt service of the bonds. The approval comes as FSU and TMH, which have been operating under a memo of understanding, are at odds over the future of a City of Tallahassee-owned hospital and whether it should be transitioned into an academic teaching institution as part of FSU or continue to be run by TMH, which has a long term-lease with the city to manage the facility. Hospital administrator and Board of Governors member Alan Levine said he normally doesn't involve himself in local disputes but took offense at TMH CEO Mark O'Bryant's comments to the local newspaper about the dispute. O'Bryant told the Tallahassee Democrat that TMH is community-based and that its board comprises local residents. By contrast, he said, FSU is governed by an appointed board whose members are not local. When asked whether FSU was trying to emulate the University of Florida, which operates its health care facilities in Gainesville and Jacksonville under the UF Health moniker, O'Bryant told the paper: 'I'm not sure that's the model you want. They don't really focus as much on the local community over there because they have a different mission. Their mission is for more academic research. So if you think about the whole population, people should be concerned.' Levine, who is chairman, president, and CEO of Ballad Health, said he 'takes great offense to that comment.' Levine told the BOG he compared charity and Medicaid care between UF Health and TMH and discovered that UF has three times as many Medicaid patients as TMH, with a 15% caseload versus 5%, respectively. Additionally, UF Health offers a financial assistance policy to provide charity care to people who earn 200% or less of the federal poverty level. TMH's financial assistance policy is set at 150% of the FPL. 'I don't think it's fair. If you were to go to Jacksonville or go to Gainesville and ask people whether or not our academic medical center cares about the local community and that's not what drives decisions they make, then you don't know much about academic medical centers,' Levine said. He called O'Bryant's comments 'uneducated' and said, 'I do think something strong needs to be said to respond to that.' Levine offered this unsolicited advice: 'FSU gets to decide who it partners are but I would strongly encourage their partner here in Tallahassee to rethink their position on that because it's not true.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
