March 23, 2011

“Associated Industries of Florida commends Governor Scott for creating a commission that will review taxpayer-funded hospitals and determine if these entities are operating in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.  Florida’s taxpayers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in these health care facilities and this commission will help determine the most appropriate way to proceed in the public’s best interest.    

Are the public dollars invested in these hospitals the best investment? Is the established structure for funding and compensating these hospitals the most rationale approach? Given our financial climate and the increasing need to justify every dollar spent, these kinds of questions are important ones to ask. We thank Gov. Scott for establishing a process that will encourage this type of examination and inquiry.

Hospitals and health care facilities that subsist on tax revenues must be held responsible for the ways in which these funds are used, and we are hopeful that the commission’s findings will help increase efficiencies, accountability and the result in the highest return on taxpayer investment possible.”