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Tuesday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida today
Condo Wars: State regulators a dead end for desperate condo owners
The letters and emails used the same tone of infuriating bureaucratic courtesy. “I trust this email finds you well,” began one message. Another concluded, “Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.” The communications came from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, the state agency in charge of making sure condominium boards obey the law, and it delivered the same message repeatedly to condo owners seeking help: Get lost. The DBPR is a dead end for most condo owners, the South Florida Sun Sentinel found in an analysis of complaint data, which showed the vast majority of complaints are closed without action. More from the Orlando Sentinel.
Florida echoes half century of wins and losses from Endangered Species Act
A half century ago, Americans decided to no longer leave "survival of the fittest" to nature. Too many animals were dying at the hands of humans, including our nation's symbol — the bald eagle. The Vietnam War and Watergate dominated headlines. America launched its first space station, Skylab, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The Yom Kippur War — Egypt and Syria's surprise attack on Israel — had just raged and passed. The Exorcist horrified audiences. But it was the loss of wildlife that also mortified America that year. People were fed up. The public sentiment and politics aligned. More from the Herald Tribune.
Pensacola's indigent and homeless targeted by 'aggressive' insurance brokers'
People who are homeless or indigent are being taken advantage of by out-of-town insurance brokers, according to homeless advocates who say the brokers are all but bribing people who live on the street to sign up for policies they can’t afford and ultimately making it harder for them to get health coverage. The issue is just one of many homeless individuals face regarding healthcare. Chandra Smiley is CEO and executive director of Community Health Northwest Florida, one of the primary places people who are homeless and low-income can go locally for medical care. Last year alone Community Health saw almost 10,000 homeless patients at the organization’s 22 sites in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. More from Pensacola News Journal.
Lee Health purchases naming rights to Twins spring training complex in south Fort Myers
Lee Health will become the official Florida health care provider of the Minnesota Twins and will have the naming rights to the club’s south Fort Myers springs training complex as part of a 10-year partnership. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The naming rights agreement between the technology and communications company Century Link and the Major League Baseball franchise began in 2014 and expired at the end of 2021. Under the new agreement, it will be called Lee Health Sports Complex. More from Gulfshore Business.
State could pay for some children’s swim lessons
Two Florida legislators, pointing to statistics that show that drowning is the leading cause of death among young children in the Sunshine State, want to create a new voucher program that will offer swimming lessons to low-income families. Sen. Travis Hutson and Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera filed legislation this week (SB 544/581) that would create the program in the Department of Health. The agency would contract with a network of swimming lesson vendors to offer the vouchers to families with one or more children aged four and under and an income at 200% of the federal poverty level or less. Since 2020 a total of 256 children aged four or younger have drowned in Florida. More from Florida Politics.
Philanthropy
FIU's college of nursing establishes Jorge M. Pérez and Darlene Boytell-Pérez 50th anniversary scholarship endowment
Florida International University (FIU) today announced a generous gift from Jorge M. Pérez and Darlene Marie Boytell-Pérez ’89, MS ’96 to establish a new endowment at FIU’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences (NWCNHS). The Jorge M. Pérez and Darlene Boytell-Pérez 50th Anniversary of Nursing Scholarship Endowment will address the shortage of nursing professionals throughout Florida by establishing a permanent source of funding to help nursing students pay for tuition and related educational expenses.
» More from FIU.
Economic Backbone
Uber nursing
The rideshare concept is pretty simple. You need to go someplace, so you use an app to put out a call to nearby drivers willing to take you there. Tony Braswell thought the same formula might work filling nursing shifts and founded Gale Healthcare Solutions to put out a call to nearby nurses willing to take their shifts. Gale says it has 67,000 nurses in 40 states filling “tens of thousands of open shifts every month.” It offers advantages for the employers, who can quickly fill staffing gaps, as well as the nurses, who can choose where and when to work and get paid the same day.
» Read more from Florida Trend.
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