Your Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida
Welcome to the Safety Net Hospital Alliance Web Site! As the President and Chief Operations Officer of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida “The Alliance”, I am dedicated to providing our member institutions with state and federal governmental advocacy of the essential safety net role that each Alliance member provides of ensuring all Floridians have access to affordable, high-quality healthcare, regardless of their ability to pay.
The Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida are the hospitals that Floridians turn to when they or their loved ones have suffered a severe injury, are facing a complicated and catastrophic illness or are dealing with a high-risk delivery. We are the teaching, public, children’s and regional perinatal intensive care hospitals who provide the most advanced, innovative, specialized and expensive care to those with the most complex and urgent needs. At the same time, we are training our next generation of doctors and nurses. We are the people you turn to when a loved one is involved in a horrific accident. We are the place you go when your father has been diagnosed with a rare cancer. In today’s crazy, complicated health care system, Safety Net Alliance hospitals are a continuing source of comfort and care when you need them the most.
Not only are Safety Net Alliance members leading health systems, we are also community-based mission-driven health care providers that treat everybody, rich or poor, insured or uninsured. We were created by our local communities, are governed by local boards and accept and treat anyone in need – regardless of their ability to pay. You won’t find any signs on our emergency room doors warning patients that “payment is expected prior to service.” Hospitals with signs like that are clearly telling your sick and injured neighbors that only those with money or insurance are welcome.
That’s because many of our competitors are for-profit corporations that first must serve the interests of their investors, not their patients or their larger communities. Safety Net Alliance hospitals, though, are not in the business of making people rich; we are in the business of making people well. We do not improve people’s portfolios; we improve their lives.
We are not just the hospitals you count on to care for you today; as the hospitals that train Florida’s doctors and nurses we are protecting your future health care needs too. Florida is currently facing a doctor shortage that poses a serious threat to our access to quality physician care. Our members are partnering with the Florida Legislature to rapidly address this crisis. And thanks to our groundbreaking research we can now make sure we are training the exact doctors your community needs.
Being responsible for the health of our communities is a sacred trust. One that we embrace. The great pride with which we serve our local communities shows how clearly we understand that hospitals are not interchangeable. Our member hospitals cannot be replaced by hospitals that are unwilling to assume the many roles of a safety net hospital. Too many of our services, services that are central to our community-focused mission, are just too unprofitable for facilities that are beholden to their investors. Abolishing or weakening of any of our hospitals and the health of your community measurably suffers. Families suffer. Worker productivity suffers. The overall quality of life in the community suffers.
Thankfully, the local Safety Net Alliance hospital that has been a foundational part of your community for generations is committed to being around to care for your grandchildren’s grandchildren. And beyond.
Sincerely,
Lindy Kennedy
President & Chief Operations Officer
Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida