Florida Hospital Association Fact Sheet

• The Florida Hospital Association (FHA) is a not-for-profit association representing more than 230 hospitals all across Florida. The FHA's membership also includes 19 professional membership groups and over 1,800 professional members.

• The FHA's mission is "to promote the ability of member hospitals and healthcare systems to effectively and efficiently serve the healthcare needs of their communities." The FHA carries out its mission through advocacy, research, representation and services to members.

• FHA is a leading voice in setting public policy in Tallahassee and Washington.

• Florida's hospitals are a major statewide employer. The state's hospitals collectively employed 201,000 people and provided other part-time or consulting jobs to 102,000 people in 1999, according to a study by the University of South Florida (USF).

• Florida's hospitals also are a significant force in the state's economy. The overall impact of goods and services provided by the state's hospitals totaled $6.9 billion in 1999, according to the USF study.

• During 2001, Florida's hospitals treated over six million people through their emergency departments and trauma centers, and admitted another two million people to their facilities.

• Florida's hospitals serve as a critical healthcare safety net to 2.8 million uninsured Floridians. The state's hospitals provide $1.5 billion in charity care each year.

• The medical liability insurance crisis is harming the state's hospitals. Over the past two years, Florida's hospitals have seen insurance premium increases of 140 percent. When hospitals are forced to spend more money on insurance, there is less money available to invest in new staff, equipment and facilities to improve patient care.

• At least six Florida hospitals have already announced they will close their obstetrics units by the end of 2002 due to high insurance costs or the inability of doctors to obtain coverage. Many other hospitals are evaluating whether they will be forced to close obstetrics units or stop offering other high-risk services.

• The current medical liability crisis couldn't have come at a worse time for Florida's hospitals. At the same time insurance premiums are skyrocketing, hospitals are facing revenue cuts from the federal and state governments and the private sector. Hospitals also are facing a variety of cost increases-for such things as prescription drugs, disaster readiness and ever-evolving technology-severe workforce shortages, the challenge of treating a growing uninsured population, and a barrage of regulatory, administrative and paperwork burdens.