New Florida law expands access to home health care
Getting health care at home is about to get easier for Florida families. A new law modernizes home health care rules to expand staffing flexibility and streamline oversight. Under the new law, home health agencies can now use contracted staff, such as travel nurses, to perform critical patient visits. That includes admissions, evaluations and discharges. Previously, only direct employees could handle those responsibilities. [Source: WCTV]
Florida Trend Exclusive
Pediatric partnership
Studer Family Children’s Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart and Nemours Children’s Health are partnering to provide advanced pediatric health care across Northwest Florida. The strategic arrangement will significantly increase the number of subspeciality physicians practicing on Studer Family Children’s Hospital’s main campus. Sacred Heart’s children’s hospital was formed in 1969, and Nemours has been providing specialty pediatric health care services in Pensacola for 29 years. [Source: Florida Trend]
Florida’s repeated failures in mental health care for inmates could open state to lawsuits
Nearly 20 years after Florida’s family welfare chief was fined and resigned after her agency failed to move mentally ill inmates into treatment centers, the state is once again in court over the same problem, which has worsened since. Forensic commitments of mentally ill inmates have surged by 74% since 2020, DCF said in its court filing, but the state still has just over 3,000 beds. [Source: Florida Politics]
'Flesh-eating' bacteria Florida cases increase to 20, with 5 deaths from Vibrio vulnificus
Cases of Vibrio vulnificus, the so-called "flesh-eating" bacteria, are still increasing in the state according to new data released Aug. 21 from the Florida Department of Health. While the number of deaths remains steady at five in 2025. the FDOH is reporting that cases have risen to 20 with new cases in Collier, Miami-Dade, and Martin counties and a second case in Hillsborough. The five deaths happened in Bay, Broward, Hillsborough and St. Johns, the FDOH said. [Source: Florida Times-Union]
Your Florida health insurer is now out of network at nearby hospitals. What are your options?
Contract showdowns between hospital systems and health insurers are happening more often, and patients are caught in the middle. In recent months, disputes over expiring contracts have led to tens of thousands of South Florida residents receiving state-required warning letters from their insurance companies, alerting them that their physicians or local hospitals could soon be out of network. If the insurer and health system fail to reach an agreement, patients lose access to trusted doctors or face significantly higher medical bills. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Jacksonville health funding partly restored in city budget under pressure from medical community
The Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee has reinstated some money it previously stripped from the proposed city budget for two popular public health initiatives for the uninsured. That follows public pressure by medical systems, local physicians, nonprofit clinics and two city lawmakers.
› Tampa Bay hospitals report rise in COVID-19 infections
Emergency departments at Tampa Bay hospitals are reporting a significant increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for COVID-19 infections as new variants of the virus spread. HCA hospitals in the Tampa Bay region hospitals reported positivity rates of patients with COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, chills, congestion and sore throats increased from 14% to 35% in the past few weeks.
› A Tallahassee emergency homeless shelter is providing medical care again
A Tallahassee emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness is now providing medical care to clients for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic. The nonprofit Doctors United has a full clinic at the Kearney Center. Practitioners will provide primary care to patients 13 and older in the Big Bend region. The center's CEO, Sonya Wilson, says getting access to treatment will help give clients more stability.
› Florida Blue accuses The Villages Health of adding false codes to patient files in new bankruptcy filing
Another health insurer is accusing a large health care company in The Villages of falsely adding thousands of diagnostic codes to patient files, in a new objection to the company’s bankruptcy plan. The Villages Health System is currently undergoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and plans to be put up for sale next month, with CenterWell, a company owned by insurer Humana, putting in a stalking horse bid.