What Happened to Our Hospitals?
Shands Lake Shore in Columbia County. Shands Live Oak in Suwannee County. Shands Starke in Bradford County. All closed or converted to emergency-only services with little to no notice and limited opportunity for input from community members.
As a result, residents of north central Florida have to travel long distances for medical care, if they even have a car or can afford gas.
And these hospitals aren’t the only ones.
Around the country, rural hospital closures have sharply increased over the past two decades, and there is no end in sight. At this moment, there are more than a dozen rural hospitals at risk of closing in our state, and some could shut down in just a few years.
How has the closing of a local hospital impacted you?
Of the three hospital closures that have affected our communities in recent years, here are just a few of the impacts felt.
Shands Lake Shore had to suspend elective procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly impacted its revenue and service availability. By late 2020, hospital leaders decided to close the hospital, leaving Suwannee County patients to travel fifty miles or more for essential care—a journey that can be challenging and distressing.
Similarly, in early 2020, Shands Live Oak transitioned to an emergency-only facility, halting all inpatient and non-emergency services. The subsequent purchase by HCA Healthcare, a for-profit operator based in Tennessee, has left many in the community feeling anxious and uncertain, as services have not yet returned to pre-closure levels.
Shands Starke also shifted its focus to emergency room services only in May 2020. Without inpatient care, residents are now faced with the difficult reality of having to drive at least 20 miles to the nearest specialty facility for care—an inconvenience that adds to the stress and worry during an already tough time.
We know this has weighed heavily on many families. Listen to the stories of families impacted by closures, and share your story here →
Gracie shares her personal story relating to Florida’s rural hospital closures in the video above.
"Lake Shore closed in 2020, right at the height of the pandemic. But it wasn’t just the pandemic— it was also the height of prenatal care for my first baby. I was very nervous about it because I had a sister who had a stillborn child. I was the first in our family since then. I listened to her heartbeat every second and was, like, ‘She's there. She's safe. She's okay.’ Then we found out Lake Shore was closing. There were so many questions and there weren’t many answers as to why. "
Why are our hospitals closing?
The way money moves through our health care system wasn’t designed with rural communities in mind.
Who does this impact?
Ultimately, it's the most vulnerable patients – moms in need of OBGYN care, elderly folks in need of cardiac care, children in need of pediatric care – who suffer the most.
What options are there to address these issues?
While hospitals have occasionally been able to fill financial gaps with assistance from local or state governments, this support has not been consistent.
Now, you can help bring health care back to north central Florida. ⤵
What can we do to keep care local?
We’ve held our breath for far too long, hoping for better health care access for north central Florida. Every day we wait adds to our worries while friends and family face health challenges. No matter where we are from, no matter where we live, we all deserve the chance to be healthy.
We need leaders who will take action to make this a reality. For Florida’s Health Coalition is fighting to 1) bring and keep healthcare local, and 2) lower the cost of care.
Let’s work together to make sure our voices are heard.