SFHHA Broward County Legislative Brief at Memorial Regional Hospital

On Wednesday afternoon, the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association held its first of three Healthcare Legislative Briefs. The Broward County meeting was hosted by Memorial Healthcare System at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.

Jaime Caldwell, President of the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association, opened the meeting and welcomed the 45 attendees. Representatives from the Office of State Senator Gary Farmer, State Senator Lauren Book, State Senator Kevin Rader, Rep. Shevrin Jones, Rep. Joe Geller and Broward Delegation Director Andrea Knowles were present. Also in attendance were Aurelio M. Fernandez, III, President and CEO of Memorial Healthcare System and from the South Broward Hospital District Board of Commissioners Douglas A. Harrison, Chairman and Karen L. Harrington, Commissioner.

Caldwell introduced Senator Gary Farmer, who is also a Trial Attorney with the Law Firm of Morgan and Morgan. Senator Farmer spoke about the upcoming session in Tallahassee and the important healthcare items to be addressed. He emphasized that the leadership in healthcare needs to be proactive in meeting with their Senators and Representatives to discuss the need for change to help South Florida residents.

Haroula Protopapadakis, Associate Administrator at Memorial Regional Hospital, spoke next about the Memorial Healthcare System and Memorial Regional Hospital. Ms. Protopapadakis then introduced Ashley Boxer, Corporate Director, Government Relations, Memorial Healthcare System and Chair of the SFHHA Legislative Committee.

Ms. Boxer introduced Dr. Tammy Tucker from Memorial Healthcare System who gave a presentation about the Opioid Problem in South Florida. The presentation include current and historical background about Opioid dependency and overdoses facing the South Florida population. Dr. Tucker described the various programs Memorial Healthcare System is using to combat Opioid dependency and overdoses for their patients. In July 2018, South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report published an article about the programs Memorial Healthcare System has instituted at Memorial Hospital Pembroke.