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Stew Lilker’s

Columbia County Observer

Real news from Florida for working families since 2007

Lake Shore Hospital Authority

LSHA: Tonight, the Tone-Deaf LSHA Governor’s Illegally Constituted Board Meets To Do What It Does Best – Continue Squandering Public Funds

Dale Williams: Manager and Executive Director of the Lake Shore Hospital Authority
Photo and graphic: Columbia County Observer

More LSHA stories are here.

COLUMBIA COUNTY, FL – The Lake Shore Hospital Authority board, one of Florida’s premier tone-deaf dysfunctional governor-appointed special district boards, meets tonight at 5:15 pm. The purpose of the meeting is to continue its fiscal irresponsibility as it is about to make a deal to dole out and misspend millions of the public’s dollars.

Authority Manager Dale Williams:
a track record that is not sterling

Since 2018, the Authority has been under the direction of North Florida’s legendary former Columbia County Manager Dale Williams, who has overseen the Hospital Authority client base drop 91.4% (187 to 16 as of May 2024). During the last eight months, the Authority has added three clients and now claims 19 clients.

In early 2020, Community Health Systems (CHS), the leasee of the Authority’s hospital, advised the Authority it was planning to buy out its lease and walk away. It did, and by October 2020, CHS had vacated the hospital. CHS left tens of thousands of dollars in inventory, aka, hospital beds and equipment, which had a stunted inventory directed by Manager Williams. The inventory was never valued and has been depreciating ever since.

Manager Williams and the governor's board have overseen a drop in its pharmacy program since 2019 of over a thousand percent. (through May 2024)

Since October 2020, the cost of maintaining the empty Authority buildings has been $77,764 per month (through May 2024). Today, the total cost is approaching $4 million.

The Board & Manager Come Up With a New Scheme to Part County Taxpayers of Their Money

With an Election Day vote looming (non-binding referendum) to dissolve the Authority, the governor’s board and Manager came up with an RFP to build an Authority Primary Care Clinic two miles from one currently operated by Palms Medical. Palms also operates a clinic 6.3 miles from the Authority.

The $3 mil the Authority is proposing to construct a clinic for the use of Palms Medical could fund primary care at the Health Department for at least ten years.

On Election Day, Columbia County voters voted three to one to eliminate the Authority. The governor’s board, a tone-deaf group of political appointees, did not care.

Manager Williams claimed the RFP was his work, mentioning that it was ‘cut and paste.’

The RFP actually came from the desk of Manager Williams’ long-time friend and Authority Consultant Richard ‘Dick’ Powell.

With the public’s views known, the Authority Board moved forward and began working on a contract with Palms. Columbia County taxpayers would pay for the Palms clinic with $3 million and subsidize Palms' losses with almost $2 million over the course of three years.

The Authority Scheme Was Worse Than It Seemed

Across the street – yes – across the street – from the Authority is the Columbia County Health Department. Up until about five years ago, the Health Department provided the public with primary care.

People with intimate knowledge of the Columbia County Health Department's services said the Department is set up to deliver primary care and already has a clinic, just not a doctor and RN support.

The estimated cost of a primary care doctor and RN is about $300,000 a year, which would not require County taxpayers to spend $3 million to build a new clinic and subsidize $2 million in losses.

Authority Management Kept the Health Department Out of the Loop

Documents received from the Authority show that while the Authority notified a handful of medical providers, the Health Department was not notified of the RFP to provide primary care clinic services.

The Columbia County Health Department’s Director said she did not know of the RFP.

Palms Medical is set to deliver all the services now provided by the Health Department, a three-minute walk from the proposed Authority/Palms proposed clinic.

Palms was the only responder to the RFP.

Florida's Interim Deputy Secretary for County Health Systems Speaks Out

Mark Lander, the current Interim Deputy Secretary for County Health Systems and the former director of the Columbia County Health Department, told your reporter, “The Columbia County Health Department had previously provided primary care services to the community and is currently set up to deliver services as needed.”

It Gets Worse
The Suwannee Valley Transit Authority: What's That?

The Suwannee Valley Transit Authority, funded by federal, state, and Columbia County taxpayers, is set up to transport those who can't afford transportation and others to their medical appointments. The Transit Authority's biggest client is Columbia County. Those needing transportation to either Palms Medical facility only need to call for an appointment.

Two members of the County 5 (County Commission) sit on the Transit Authority board.

Even Worse

The governor’s Lake Shore Hospital Authority Board is not legally constituted. The Florida legislation reestablishing the Authority at its last incarnation in 2005 required that “One [board] member be a physician engaged in the practice of medicine at the Lake Shore Hospital.”

The Lake Shore Hospital has been shut down since October 2020, and the governor's board has been operating illegally since then.

It is “hornbook” law that after an illegal act, everything fails.

Epilogue

The saga of the LSHA continues.

It is time the state of Florida investigated. While tone-deafness and ignorance are not against the law, waste – fraud – collusion – and abuse are.

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