Jason Futch
Reporter2.riverbendnews@gmail.com
In 2020, Shands Lake Shore Regional Medical Center in Lake City ceased operations. The closure was attributed to unsustainable financial losses and declining patient volume, leading to an agreement between its operator, Community Health Systems, and the Lake Shore Hospital Authority to close the facility.
In the same year, Shands Live Oak Regional Medical Center and Shands Starke Regional Medical Center also closed their doors to inpatient, non-emergency care after years of offering affordable medical services to the people of North Florida, converting their services to emergency-only. It came just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to ravage the country, with many questions about the virus being unanswered at the time.
So, "what happened to our hospitals?" That was the topic of a presentation by Florida Voices for Health, a nonprofit health advocacy organization, as part of an ongoing listening campaign to implement solutions and spur action from residents and stakeholders to close the healthcare gap in North Central Florida.
According to Scott Darius, executive director of Florida Voices for Health, more than 30 residents from Lake City and surrounding areas came to the discussion at the Florida Gateway Fairgrounds on Monday, Sept. 15, to address the concerns and focus on the impact the reduced care opportunities had on the community.
Darius said that during similar tours, which touched on strengthening Medicaid, oral health, and other medically necessary topics, discussions surrounding rural communities always came up. "Every time we talked about those issues, we kind of talked about rural communities as a talking point," he said.
Then, in 2023, Darius's wife went into labor and gave birth. While they lived in Gainesville, his wife was unable to be admitted into the hospital for an induction until two days after she initially went into labor. "It was because they had such a long list of people waiting to be induced because of all the local hospital closures, and there wasn't much you could do at that point," Darius said.
It was at that moment, Darius realized, the dire situation for patients in surrounding counties experiencing wait times and long lines for care. For the last two years, Darius and Florida Voices for Health have toured the state, engaging in conversations with residents and hosting roundtables to address the current state of quality healthcare services in rural counties. "We just wanted to bring community members together and give them a public opportunity to talk about the difficulties of accessing care, what the challenges have been since the hospital closures, but also to talk about solutions.”
Darius was joined by Philip Mobley with the NorthStar Family Resource Center, Jonathan Burgess, a former Lake City resident, and Steven Davis with the Rural Health Redesign Center, to kick off the sharing of their own health access stories and to discuss how other rural communities are bringing stakeholders together to find ways to create more affordable, accessible and high-quality health care options in rural Florida. Both Florida Voices for Health, with the help of partners like the Rural Health Redesign Center, plan to continue discussing these issues with stakeholders, organizing meetings, and advocating for solutions with elected officials.
Darius said, when communities lose hospitals, they lose quality care locally, and should not be a topic to ignore. "A lot of these locations were primary care locations for folks, but it's the loss of maternity wards, cardiologists and others who would rotate through these hospitals," he said. "Since they've closed, access like that is completely gone out the window."
He also said another significant emphasis is on mental health. A spike in major mental health issues has increased the need for more care, especially amongst the law enforcement community, where Darius said more assistance is needed. "A sheriff said the effort it takes for a deputy to Baker Act someone and bring them down to Gainesville and watch that person until they are properly handed off, you lose a deputy for a half or full day," he said. "So it's every facet of the community impacted by this in one way or another."
Darius hopes the ongoing conversations on rural healthcare will help shape its future direction, allowing rural residents more accessible healthcare without having to leave their county.