Your taxes are paying for this $1.5 billion makeover to Miami’s public hospital system
After persuading
Building permits have been filed for a
At each of
"What we committed to up front, we are fulfilling that commitment," said
The public hospital system's facilities and infrastructure are some of the oldest in the region. Its sprawling main campus in
Other hospital systems have more modern buildings, with elegant lobbies and patient rooms that resemble hotel suites. Many are located in
And unlike the taxpayer-owned
By drawing in more insured patients, Steigman said,
"We want to get more people into the Jackson facilities that can pay," he said, "so we can serve everyone in
In total,
Plans leave little room for financial error because Jackson will fund nearly half the costs with capital reserves, which will require the public hospital system to at least break even or produce a profit each year.
During that time,
"We know our mission is to serve all walks of the community," Steigman said. "And we need to make sure that we're providing that care."
Of the
Spending of the voter-approved funds is overseen by an 11-member
Baker, who is president of
"It looks very squeaky clean," she said.
The oversight panel also ensures that locally owned businesses are hired to perform much of the renovation and expansion work under the county's Small Business Enterprise contracting requirements. But
In the past,
Baker said the mentoring program has had a dual benefit for
"Not only will this
As home to
But years of financial mismanagement that led to near bankruptcy in 2011 left
Since then, new leadership at
If the hospital system is going to thrive, though, it will have to grow and not just cut costs, Steigman said.
As an example, he said,
Already, Steigman said, renovated maternity suites are beginning to attract more insured mothers.
"We've seen a bump up," he said. "So people are coming to us ... where before we didn't' have it. Why? We renovated the suites."
Another bright side to
"When you have more people living in the urban core, and we are in the urban core, that's only going to help us," Pinzur said.
One of the signature projects in
The rehabilitation hospital will integrate patients and therapists with UM researchers working on the same floors, Steigman said, giving
"We'll be able to perform the whole care from start to finish," he said.
In
Steigman said
The hospital, he said, will be built in a second phase if
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