Who does Tallahassee Memorial Health really serve?

Tallahassee, FL – The city of Tallahassee is considering the sale of Tallahassee Memorial Health after TMH’s leadership proposed restructuring its governance agreement with the city, which city staff say would give Tallahassee less oversight. The Tallahassee Democrat first broke the news about this potential sale, which caused outrage among Tallahassee residents.

The proposed restructuring came after Florida State University and TMH announced their future partnership, and TMH is expanding significantly, including a new campus in Panama City. The new agreement would bypass city authority to approve members of TMH’s board.

Local retired cardiologist Dr. Edward Holifield, a frequent critic of TMH’s “subpar” healthcare, spoke with me to voice his frustrations with the city but also TMH’s lack of community accountability. He does not believe the city should sell TMH and argues the city should have more oversight.

Holifield states, “The city shouldn’t sell the property unless the proceeds of the sales go to the healthcare of Black and poor people. The city should own TMH and use it as a vehicle to provide affordable, quality, equitable healthcare instead of substandard healthcare.”

Holifield believes the city is engaging in a “hostile takeover” and that TMH leadership and employees were not even aware of the proposed changes. He says Mayor John Dailey and City Manager Reese Road were already moving behind the scenes.

Holifield criticized TMH for its $1 a year lease – the city owns all the buildings, the land, and hospital equipment. He also called out its high Black infant mortality rate, and frequent D ratings from the Leapfrog Group, an organization that collects, analyzes and publishes data on the healthcare industry. Furthermore, WFSU reported TMH received an F rating in spring 2020.

According to the Democrat, TMH has earned three consecutive D grades. As Holifield points out, “A substandard rating to Leapfrog means patients have either suffered unnecessarily or died unnecessarily.”

“One F is enough,” Holifield remarked, emphasizing that failing Leapfrog ratings are rare and dangerous.

Holifield also raises concerns over Tallahassee’s high rates of Black maternal and infant mortality, citing data from Florida CHARTS as a source that breaks down outcomes by county and race. He accuses TMH of ignoring racial disparities in care, despite being a non-profit hospital.

Holifield wonders if TMH’s expansion into Panama City is even illegal, saying, “TMH doesn’t pay any property taxes, but it provides medical resources for the people of Panama City.”

He asks who gave TMH authority to expand. Was it the city commission? The Black community? “Why export resources to Margaritaville when Black babies are dying in Tallahassee?” he said.

Holifield also criticizes TMH for its racist history. “Black people have paid the price [to build TMH] but they never fully benefited from it. Black people weren’t even allowed in TMH until 1965. It was built using a 10% utility tax that Black people had to pay to support the white municipal hospital.”

He wonders how an organization can pay a $1-a-year lease and exploit its workers, stating, “You can work full time at TMH and still be eligible for food stamps and Medicaid. The CEO makes over a million a year while janitors only make $14 an hour. That’s not a living wage.” According to ProPublica, TMH’s CEO racks up a $1,212,451 salary.

He also accuses TMH of promoting infant formula over breastfeeding for premature babies, contributing to necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). He says TMH only adopted the “Baby-Friendly” hospital standard which encourages breastfeeding, after community pressure.

Holifield argues decisions like these are life-and-death issues that disproportionately affect poor and Black families.

Finally, Holifield connects TMH’s culture to a broader trend of silencing discussions about racism and inequity in public institutions. He points to a controversial list of banned DEI-related terms recently published by FSU leadership.

“How can you address racial disparities in healthcare when you can’t even say the words?” he asked. “We’re going backward.”

As the city of Tallahassee weighs the future of TMH, Holifield words serve as a warning, emphasizing that without transparency, accountability and commitment to equity, the hospital’s legacy of exclusion and inequality will only deepen.

#TallahasseeFL #FL #PeoplesStruggle #Healthcare

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/who-does-tallahassee-memorial-health-really-serve?pk_campaign=rss-feed