Kudos to anonymous donor of $200,000 to pay for key Manatee County post

One of the key pieces to the complex and stubborn puzzle of assisting the medically needy with health care suddenly appeared out of nowhere last week. An altruistic and anonymous donor, working through the Manatee Community Foundation to keep the secret, will be funding a new and essential county staff position -- that of health care services manager.

The contribution: an incredibly generous $200,000.

Manatee County's unsustainable method of compensating the health care community for providing services to the working poor who are either uninsured or underinsured cannot continue. The county hired a consulting company, Health Management Associates, and formed a stakeholder committee, the Manatee Healthcare Advisory Board, to collaborate on the creation of a viable long-term solution -- the primary mission being a recommendation on a dedicated and permanent funding stream.

They are on track to deliver a working model to the county in May, compose a final draft in June and complete this vital task in July. Basically, the health care plan will unite the county's diverse and plentiful medical assets into a comprehensive and collaborative force in order to reduce costs and improve outcomes so the medically needy receive preventive care as well as treatment for their conditions.

That tall order requires a leader. Manatee County, which is not in the health care business, lacks an experienced expert to guide a new system into an efficient and effective entity and -- as Karen Windon, the county's deputy administrator, says -- "maximize the resources we have and steer us the way we need to go."

The health care manager's benefactor clearly cares about the community's health. Major kudos for this largess, for it will greatly propel the drive to build a dynamic health care system.

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Kudos to anonymous donor of $200,000 to pay for key Manatee County post ."