It is very clear that financially the State of Florida is having a difficult year due to high gas prices, the drop off of the real estate market and the impacts from the large variations in the US stock market as well as the global economy. Our legislators are faced with very difficult decisions on how best to balance the budget for the State of Florida. I applaud their diligence and hard work in this arena.

However, I would like to enlist their aide in not jeopardizing the health and well being of our communities. Currently there is a proposed 51% cut of the Florida Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Network’s funding due to a misconception and lack of understanding of AHEC’s role as one of the workforce arms of the health care safety net. The AHEC’s provide services in medically underserved communities within all of Florida’s 67 counties and this would decimate the programs and in some cases close down the services in some counties.

The Florida AHEC Network received funding this year to provide tobacco cessation services through out the State. The misconception is that because this money was received the regular core funding that provides the health care safety net services can be cut. This is not the case for the following reasons:

• The tobacco funds must only be spent on tobacco cessation services as mandated by law.
• The tobacco funds currently will not cover the infrastructure that is in place that allows the AHEC’s to provide the tobacco cessation services.
• Cutting core funding would in effect remove the health care safety net services that the AHEC’s provide to help fill in the gaps for our local communities – The return on the state’s $11.8 million investment in the statewide AHEC program for Fiscal Year 2007 alone was 68%!

Miami-Dade AHEC alone provided over 80,000 services to individuals in our community during Fiscal Year 2007. Through our collaboration and support of various free clinics serving the homeless, poor and uninsured we have provided over the past 6 fiscal years 237,000 patient services. In addition, our health promotion and disease prevention programs geared toward our youths and adults have given over 220,000 adults and children the tools to live healthier lifestyles. In total, over 457,000 services have been provided helping increase access to health services to the medically needy residents of Miami-Dade County.

As an individual who has in the past 15 years established four free clinics in Miami-Dade, I can tell you that we in the health care field can make significant in roads in saving taxpayer dollars with the services we provide.

One example is a 58 year-old Hispanic female migrant camp worker who came to one of our sites with shortness of breath, dizziness and weakness. She was diagnosed with Diabetes – her blood sugar did not even register on the glucometer machine, it was so high – and her blood pressure was 178/102. She was a walking time bomb who could have wound-up in the ER with multiple problems and probably a very costly stay of anywhere from $70,000 to $100,000. She was treated immediately at this free clinic by the MDAHEC sponsored physician and her diabetes was controlled over the course of the 3 months. This site currently treats over 100 diabetic patients; the potential savings in costly complications and hospital stays is $7 million to $10 million. This makes financial sense; however, programs like this one would be eliminated as a result of the proposed cuts.

The Florida AHEC Network needs your help in correcting this misinformation for the health and well being of our community.

Respectfully,

Martha A. Sanchez, RN, BSN, MBA, Center Director, Miami-Dade Area Health Education Center, Inc., 305-994-9268 ext. 205 or MSanchez@mdahec.org.