The ongoing Jackson Health System saga has dominated headlines and budget line-items alike. Jackson is an important part of our community, and our leaders have a duty to ensure Jackson not only survives, but thrives amid its current challenges.
Recently, the Miami-Dade legislative delegation held a meeting with Jackson Health System’s CEO, Carlos Migoya, and Jackson’s new governing body, the Financial Recovery Board, to discuss the state of affairs. We can all agree that Jackson’s current structure isn’t conducive for its long-term survival. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to have this discussion now when our actions can positively affect the outcome, instead of waiting until this window of opportunity has closed and the health of our most vulnerable residents is at risk.
A few months ago, Miami-Dade Commissioner Rebeca Sosa worked hard to establish a task force that provided several recommendations for Jackson. It’s no easy feat to put together the industry’s best and brightest to provide strategic input for a system like Jackson. However, before meaningful decisions could be reached, discussions appear to have ceased. Those involved cited a lack of community outrage as their main argument for cutting off these vital conversations.
It’s our responsibility as forward-thinking, elected leaders to foresee future challenges and correct them. This is the perfect opportunity for fundamental reform to take place, before our community is put at risk from a suffering healthcare system. The community has, in fact, demanded change in many areas of county government, and we should heed that outcry and improve through thoughtful reform.
Many public hospitals around our country such as those in Tampa and Boston have been able to have similar discussions and move forward with systems that make sense. Let’s step up to this conquerable challenge and continue the discussion.
Jeanette Nunez, state representative, District 112, Miami
Erik Fresen, state representative, District 111, Miami
