Manatee Memorial Hospital needs funding for indigent care, doctors say

As Manatee County’s safety net hospital, Manatee Memorial Hospital has to take every patient regardless of whether they are insured.

That requirement can come with a hefty cost to the hospital, so physicians and others in the medical community addressed the Manatee County Commission on Tuesday, imploring the county to keep providing funding for uninsured or underinsured residents.

“We cannot cripple the safety hospital of this county with the entire burden,” said Dr. Thomas Morrish, an ear, nose and throat doctor in Manatee County.

While County Administrator Ed Hunzeker has recommended some funding in the fiscal year 2018 budget, which commissioners will take final action on next month, those affiliated with Manatee Memorial Hospital stressed the importance of the funding to continue.

For $3.5 million, the county is purchasing $12 million worth of care, Morrish told commissioners.

“It’s a pretty good bargain,” Morrish said. “You’re not going to find that in any other county.”

For many years, the county relied on the funds from the sale of Manatee Memorial Hospital to address the healthcare funding issue but the money is now gone so the county is tasked with finding how to tackle the issue.

The commission made no decisions Tuesday but will further discuss health care funding during a budget work session on Aug. 24.

“We need a new way of doing things,” Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said. “We need your help as well as everyone in the community. ... This county can’t just write a blank check and it can’t just write a check to one entity.”

As the commission continues with the budget process, Commissioner Charles Smith said they are looking at both for-profits and nonprofits that receive county funding.

“As we move forward in our budgetary process, we have to question everything. That don’t mean that we are opposed to anything that you are doing,” he said. “We have to ask the questions of how we are going to balance the budget. ...We need to find another way and a creative way to find solid funding.”

Manatee County Medical Society president Dr. Sean Castellucci, who is with Urology Partners, said despite not always seeing eye-to-eye, it is important for physicians and hospitals to work together.

“The reality is we need to have a strong working relationship together to treat disease, decrease morbidity and mortality and give optimal outcomes to patient health,” he said. “Physicians cannot take care of patients if they don’t have a good working relationship with the hospital that is funding and willing to participate in a plan to take care of the indigent or at-risk population.”

Also on Tuesday, the commission:

▪  Recognized Manatee County staff for being named the first county government in the state to receive platinum designation by the Florida Green Building Coalition.

▪  Voted to place on the county’s legislative platform making the ban on texting while a driving a primary offense.

▪  Approved an one-year agreement with Ambulance Medical Billing for “the billing, processing and collection of Emergency Medical Services fees,” according to agenda materials.

▪  Authorized the execution of two nonprofit funding agreements with Meals on Wheels Plus of Manatee — one in the amount of $63,000 for home-delivered meals and the second in the amount of $29,579 for adult day care. Both are grant funded by the State Department of Elder Affairs for the Community Care for the Elderly program.

▪  Executed a contract for sale and purchase with The V. Raymond Hullinger Family Limited Partnership in the amount of $40,000 for property located north of State Road 64 and east of Lake Manatee. The parks and natural resources department wanted the property “for the purpose of expanding the Duette Preserve,” according to agenda materials.

▪  Approved an Economic Development Incentive Grant for Project CRYSTAL, which will be expanding a manufacturing facility in the county.

▪  Accepted a $5,000 grant from the Emerging City Champions Program to install bike repair kiosks in Bradenton.

This story was originally published August 8, 2017 at 1:12 PM with the headline "Manatee Memorial Hospital needs funding for indigent care, doctors say."