Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order on Wednesday appointing a commission to review the performance and costs of local government-operated hospitals.
Dubbed the Commission on Review of Taxpayer Funded Hospital Districts, its major mandate will be to determine whether it’s in the public’s best interest to have government entities operating hospitals.
Scott, who himself was CEO and ran one of the largest hospital chains, Columbia/HCA for 10 years and hastily resigned in 1997 during an investigation by the federal government and before the company was fined $1.7 billion for Medicare fraud, will also have the commission determine the best way to provide healthcare access to poor people.
On this occasion, Scott claims the review of hospitals has been ordered so as to ensure that taxpayers are getting their money’s worth in healthcare.
According to the News Service of Florida, there are currently 33 publicly-owned hospitals in Florida, not counting the VA and state-owned institutions.
Scott’s commission has 9 months to report on its findings.
