President Martha Baker, RN, Testifies at Special Board of County Commissioners Meeting on Jackson Healthy System Crisis
Administrators, caregivers and the community must work together in order to solve Jackson Health System’s financial crisis, President Martha Baker, RN, told Miami-Dade County Commissioners at a special board meeting Tuesday.
The meeting was called after Mayor Carlos Alvarez proposed an ordinance to disband the 16-member Public Health Trust and create an emergency board appointed solely by the mayor. Commissioners rejected the ordinance, saying they did not have enough time to consider the measure and that the county should not contribute to the financial crisis by imposing unfunded mandates on the health system.
The day-long hearing including sworn testimonies from Baker and several other Jackson administrators, including CEO Dr. Eneida Roldan, PHT Chairman John Copeland, Chief Financial Officer Chris Bayer and Finance Committee Chairman Marcos Lapciuc. Jackson officials gave detailed reports on the hospital’s financial crisis and plans to correct the problem.
Baker told commissioners that the recently announced partnership between SEIU 1991 members and Jackson administrators will give employees a much-needed seat at the table in order to create a more efficient Jackson.
She said Jackson's dedicated caregivers need to have a voice in addressing the public health system’s crisis, with the goal of making Jackson financially stable again without sacrificing the high quality of care for which the hospital is known.