There is safety in numbers. Or so we are told. Perhaps that is why and how the South Florida Hospital & Healthcare Association (SFHHA) is now a party to two legal challenges.
The first is an initiative to have the federal court review and declare Floridas “Amendment 7” unconstitutional. It is not that members of the SFHHA would prohibit patients from obtaining information pertinent to their care, but rather that the constitutional amendment as approved by referendum is onerous, overreaching and counter productive. Hospitals and doctors must remain free to identify, discuss and correct mistakes in a private, non-punitive, non-adversarial environment. Second is also related to patient safety. SFHHA is supporting the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Federation is their effort to have the “Guns at Work” legislation. Here is South Florida most of the hospitals have policies and practices aimed at keeping the campuses free of firearms. Not only does the recently passed legislation contradict those policies, it challenges the hospital owners rights to set policies form their own property. By serving as a conduit for group action, forming our own coalition and joining others in a common pursuit, the Association is doing all it can to represent the memberships concerns in these arenas. Of course, court cases are the exception, not the rule for SFHHA. Legislative advocacy at the state and federal levels also takes teamwork and coalition building. Educational programs, like the very successful “South Florida Healthcare Summit” held May 8-9, demonstrated extraordinary effort of a creative planning committee, generous sponsors and dedicated staff. The American Society of Association Executives says that a distinguishing feature of “associations” is the fact that membership is “voluntary.” As SFHHA reaches the halfway mark in this calendar year we are fortunate that so many talented people volunteer their time to the service of the committees and task forces, and Board of Directors of the Association. If you are not one of them, please go to www.sfhha.com to get membership information. We need you to count among our numbers!
