LSHA: FGC Jumps Into the Mix For Vacant LSHA Property. Palms Medical Wants a Subsidy – $5.4 million. What About South Columbia County?
December 9, 2024 12:30 pm | 3 min read
Map by Arkyan via Wikimedia | Columbia
County Observer graphic
COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The helter-skelter world of the Lake Shore Hospital Authority (LSHA or Authority) continues tonight when the illegally constituted Governor’s Board comes to order at 5:15 pm. Florida Gateway College (FGC) may be a late addition to the agenda.
FGC and the Authority
The College President Is Looking For Free Land
A late addition to the evening’s agenda may be a discussion of a letter from College President Larry Barrett emailed to the Authority on December 2.
Dr. Barrett wanted to know if the three-year-old conversation between the Authority and the College was still on the table: was the Authority still willing to donate property to the College “for educational purposes?”
Dr.
Barrett explained, “The college has begun to
explore additional Allied Health Programs that
will require additional specialized training…”
The College is interested in the Women's Health Building (Columbia County Court Administration courted this building) and the Physical Therapy Building (Palms Medical wants a deal for this).
Since the College's proposal three years ago for the vacated hospital, the FGC Board has had zero discussions regarding expanding into Lake City's downtown.
Dr. Barrett mentioned that the College is contemplating a bunch of new courses. These have not been brought up during FGC Board meetings. However, Dr. Barrett, via text, said he has been talking with the “staff” about the new courses.
FGC’s strategic plan is eight years old and expired in February 2022. While strategic plans should be updated as time passes and strategic goals are met, the FGC Board has never questioned the plan's expiration, its lack of updates, or the production of a new strategic plan.
President Barrett, in his letter to the Authority, said he will be "speaking with the Board of Trustees” in January about the initiatives he mentioned in his letter to the Authority.
With the expansions and proposed expansions at the College campus, it is anybody’s guess where the Governor’s Board will land on building a downtown campus.
Palms Medical: Looking for $5.4 mil to set up a clinic in the vacated physical therapy (PT) building
This evening, the Governors LSHA Board will be discussing, possibly reviewing, a response to its latest “Hail Mary” proposal for a medical clinic in the vacated PT building.
Palm Medical is an experienced medical provider and maintains all licenses, certifications, and anything else required by state and federal law.
The latest US Census figures estimate that Lake City (LC) has a population of 12,602 and Columbia County 73,063.
The LSHA was established to serve all of Columbia County.
Palms Medical presently has two medical clinics in Lake City. One clinic is located north of the Hospital Authority campus. It is 2.1 miles away and a 5-minute drive.
The other Palm’s Medical clinic is 6.3 miles away on US 90.
The Lake City Medical Center, also located on US 90, is 3.9 miles away. It presently accepts the eighteen (18) Authority clients.
The census shows that 19% of Columbia County residents are in poverty, and 22.9% of its LC population is in poverty. In Lake City, where the proposed publicly funded clinic wants to be located, 22.9% is 2,885 people in all of LC.
The census estimates that 13.9% of LC residents are without health insurance. Columbia County has 13.6 % of County residents without health insurance.
The Lake Shore Hospital Authority was established to serve all Columbia County residents.
In the Fort White area (the anchor of South Columbia County), there is no medical clinic serving South Columbia County.
Epilogue
Palms Medical came up with population figures for areas that are out of the LC City limits – some way out. Those areas are served by the three medical facilities in Lake City, two of which are Palms.
The Governor’s LSHA should take a drive around Columbia County. It may discover that there is more to Columbia County than Lake City.
The County (60,461 residents with 13.6% uninsured) is the area the Lake Shore Hospital Authority is legislated to serve.
