COMMUNITY HEALTH'S DELICATE BALANCE

Community Health Northwest Florida has had to make difficult decisions as Florida dropped 520,000 people from Medicaid coverage, and another significant funding source has become a political football.

After the State of the Union address on many stations, a Building America's Future ad ran, bashing a program that has been providing vital funding for federally qualified health centers, like Community Health, and rural and children's hospitals.

The 30-second spot, "Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants," ad ties the border crisis to 340B and claims the program is under investigation because it "launders your money and provides free health care for illegal immigrants."

The ad ended with an appeal: "The more we look, the more we find. We need Republicans to stand up for us."

WHAT IS 340B?

In 1992, bipartisan congressional action created the 340B Drug Pricing Program to lower drug costs for providers who care for a disproportionate share of low-income patients. The revenue that comes from 340B is an important source of financial support for Community Health and other health centers throughout the country. In the past, 340B provided Community Health $5.5 million annually that the nonprofit puts to offer more services to the underserved in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

The money comes from the drug companies. Pharmaceutical manufacturers agree to like Escambia County.

Medications are sold at discounted prices to 340B providers, like Community Health. Then, when the provider prescribes a drug, it is sold by the pharmacy to the patient's insurance company at the regular price. That difference between the regular price and the discounted price is money that can be used to benefit Community Health's patients.

Unfortunately, Big Pharm, health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) are actively working to undermine 340B, according to Community Health leaders. They shared several drug manufacturers have refused to allow 340B drugs to be shipped to the "contract pharmacy" partners that federally qualified health centers rely upon for dispensing 340B drugs to their patients. Also, PBMs are engaging in discriminatory contracting against 340B providers, resulting in lower reimbursement for a 340B health center pharmacy than other pharmacies.

"It's been about two years now that the major pharmaceutical manufacturers have started pulling out of what we call the contract pharmacy arrangement agreements," said Dr. Darrel Miller, Community Health's chief pharmacy officer.

"Those agreements allow us to extend the 340B services to not only our in-house pharmacies but also to the outside pharmacies."

Miller pointed out the glaring misstatement in Building America's Future ad. "The taxpayer pays nothing for 340B. Who picks up the tab?

The drug manufacturing industry because the federal government said, 'Listen, if you want to from 2021, reported it had received $11.3 million in contributions. Its Form 990 states its mission is "To educate the public and build a grassroots movement to advance new policies on a broad range of issues important to the welfare of all Americans, including, but not limited to, housing, healthcare, education, immigrant, energy, economy, jobs, trade and national security."

Difficult Decisions

The loss of $5.5 million from the 340B program, coupled with the rollback of Medicaid benefits since the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency last spring, has forced Community Health to make cuts.

"Last year, we saw this coming and started doing some things, such as not backfilling, certain positions, and doing more of a surgical cut, but it just continues to compound," said Chandra Smiley, the Community Health CEO. "Recently, we've had to be a little bit more aggressive and had to lay off about 30 positions and close some sites."

Community Health will close its adult clinic in Cantonment, its Lakeview pediatric site, optometry services and an administrative site that serves as a central receiving facility. Because the 340B funds helped to underwrite patient care, the health center must change its fee structure.

He added, "I hate that those types of ads are out there because they're just not true—not true at all. And what happens is, unfortunately, our community, our neighbors, our citizens, and our people who live right down the street from us must suffer."

Who is Building America's Future? It's not the nonprofit, bafuture.org, formed by Arnold Schwarzenegger to advocate for increased investment in infrastructure and major transportation.

The Washington Post reported that it's a nonprofit with ties to people involved in Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign and his super PAC, Never Back Down. It played a role in fundraising for the campaign and has funded efforts to discourage Democrats from voting.

NBC News reported the group sent mailers to approximately 75,000 Democratic primary voters in South Carolina, a heavily Black electorate, ahead of its Feb. 3 primary, criticizing President Joe Biden over his administration's push to ban menthol cigarettes. According to FDA research, Black smokers are more likely to smoke those cigarettes, and the NAACP and the National Action Network have been divided about the ban.

NBC News said sources shared that Building America's Future was analyzing whether mailers turned voters away from the Democratic primary. The network reported that the group plans to spend more than $1 million on efforts to push Democrats away from voting for Biden in November.

Building America's Future's donors are anonymous. The group's most recently available tax,

"The 340B allowed us to operate sites that ran at a loss and keep our nominal fee at a low, low cost," Smiley said. "Our nominal fee was zero, and we're now having to increase it to $20, and our scale goes up from there. If you were a $5, now it's $25. In dental, we're doing the same thing. Our nominal fee was $20 in dental; now it's going to be $40 in dental."

She continued, "It's still probably the best price in town, if you will, but it does concern me in that we have so many people that live at 150% or below the poverty level that we take care of. They may struggle to make those nominal fees and opt to go to the emergency room, which is what we've been trying to avoid."

Smiley said these decisions have been difficult to make. "With a Medicaid redetermination, we've seen about a 17% drop in Medicaid. So we're seeing our uninsured rates go up and our Medicaid payer mix go down. And I know now more than ever people really need us, and this is a time that we're having to retract and reduce our footprint, reduce our service lines."

Even though Community Health has closed some locations, it still is doing outreach.

"Yesterday, we were at Attucks Court with our mobile unit out, and we're going to use that resource more to make sure that we are reaching out and touching those communities where there's a high concentration of people that we need to take care of, but it's a balance," Smiley said.

"We have a mission to fulfill, and we're committed to doing that. Unfortunately, we're just having to pivot and look at how we do our business differently moving forward."

For more information on Community Health Northwest Florida, visit healthcarewithinreach.org. {in}

New Record

SET IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay's 2024 membership drive concluded with 1,208 members, its most members ever. On Oct. 13, IMPACT 100 will give back to the community $1,208,000, by awarding 12 significant project grants of $100,670 each to local nonprofit organizations.

Since its inception in 2003, IMPACT 100 has awarded 153 grants totaling more than $16 million to deserving nonprofit organizations in the greater Pensacola Bay Area. After awarding the 2024 grants in October, IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area will have funded grants totaling over $17 million.

"It is my privilege to serve with the 1,208 IMPACT members and support the nonprofits that do such important work in our community," said Kristin Longley, president of IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area. "The spirit of philanthropy is alive and well among us, as demonstrated by the record-breaking number of women who have chosen to be a part of IMPACT 100 in 2024."

She continued, "For over 20 years, the women of IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area have supported nonprofit organizations through truly transformative projects that benefit thousands of families in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties."

On Thursday, April 18, IMPACT 100 will host a free workshop and social for nonprofits considering applying for a grant.

"Our nonprofit workshop is a great way for nonprofits in the area to get more information on how to apply for which of the five focus areas might be most impactful for their organization," Longley said.

The event will feature the dynamic Darrick McGhee. McGhee's diverse background as an entrepreneur, lobbyist, pastor and blogger brings a wealth of knowledge about driving positive change, particularly in Florida. Nonprofit leaders are urged to get more details and register for the workshop at impact100pensacola.org/nonprofit-workshop.

TIME TO BUILD CivicCon hosted Richard Harwood's "Enough. Time to Build" campaign, which focuses on what average citizens can do to get involved in their communities.

After working on political campaigns and for nonprofits, Harwood founded The Harwood Institute. He came to believe political campaigns were more divisive than helpful in moving us forward. Too many nonprofits live off soft money and aren't producing results. The Harwood Institute equips people, organizations and communities with the tools to bridge divides, build capacity and tackle shared challenges. The "Enough. Time to Build" campaign sprung his visits to various communities.

"As I travel all across the country, what I hear people saying, regardless of who they vote for, that our country's on the wrong track, that they've had enough of the division, enough of the hatred, enough of the bigotry, enough of the acrimony," Harwood shared. "People are, as you are, exhausted by all this, and we're not making the progress that we need."

He added, "The change we need is going to start in our local communities, where we can actually come together, restore our faith in ourselves and in one another that we can get things done together, and start to build and see some progress."

Harwood believes all change in American history has always started in our local communities. "It didn't start in Washington, D.C., or even our state capitals. And I think we need to renew that spirit today."

To learn about his initiative, visit theharwoodinstitute.org/build.

GAETZ FETED On Friday, March 15, the Palm Beach County Republican Party held its Lincoln Day Gala at Mar-a-Lago Club to honor Congressman Matt Gaetz as Statesman of the Year. More than 750 people attended the event, which raised more than $1 million.

Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics reported that partygoers stood in line for 40 minutes to see Gaetz. The former president praised the Panhandle Republican during his remarks.

SMOOTH PRIMARY Escambia County Supervisor of Elections Robert Bender told In - weekly his election cycle, the GOP presidential primary on March 19, went smoothly despite a few glitches.

"We had a couple little hiccups here and there that we had to work through, but again, all the polls opened on time, and people were able to vote," Bender said. "The Brownsville Community Center suffered a power outage, which left 700 people without power, and we have two precincts there. We were able to take one of our small portable power generators to them, and the county had a generator en route, but before we were able to get it set up, FPL had a quick response and brought us back online."

Another precinct had a voting machine that didn't boot up before the voting started. The supervisor said, "We threw a replacement in a suitcase, headed out and replaced it. But of course, we have the emergency bin. That's exactly what it's for, so voters can still securely return their ballots even if the machine's down, and then we will tabulate 'em later."

HCA FLORIDA HEALTHCARE While on

WCOA's

"Real News with Rick Outzen,"

HCA Florida West Chief Operations Officer David Hoffenberg announced the hospital made the Fortune 500 Top 100 Community Hospitals for the fifth consecutive time.

"We focus on our patient care, the quality outcomes, the people that make it all happen is really how we do so well. Our people are amazing," Hoffenberg said. He added that HCA Florida expects to receive another "A" from The Leapfrog Group, which collects, analyzes and publishes healthcare data on the safety, quality, and resource use of hospitals. The COO gave all the credit to the hospital's healthcare team.

"It's not us touting what we're doing. These are other folks who recognize the quality of care that we're bringing to this community," Hoffenberg said. "But again, back to our people. It's our nurses, it's our doctors, it's our staff that really make that happen. Our job is to get them the resources they need to do a good job, but they make it happen."

Not all hospitals shared their data. He said, "A lot of hospitals throughout COVID faced real challenges. Resourcing people and outcomes did dip across the country. It's the truth. But HCA, we've always been committed to keeping our hospitals resourced, doing whatever we can to prepare our people and make sure that we don't see those outcomes suffer."

Hoffenberg added, "And I've been in quite a few communities with HCA, and that commitment's the same across the whole country."

To find the Leapfrog grades for local hospitals, visit leapfroggroup.org and click on "About Our Ratings" in the navigation bar.

NEW NAVY FED LEADER Navy Federal Credit Union recently promoted Jackie Biggs to serve as the executive leader for operational campuses and the credit union's Contact Center Operations (CCO). Biggs, a Pensacola native, takes over for Kara Cardona, who was recently promoted to the role of chief operating officer.

"I started my Navy Federal career in the Contact Center in 2007," Biggs said in a written statement. "The opportunity to lead our enterprise CCO and campuses is one I relish, because those businesses are where we have a great impact on our members and the communities where we serve. I'm humbled by the opportunity to build on the momentum Kara and other leaders began."

Biggs is a two-time recipient of the Navy Federal Credit Union President's Award for Leadership Excellence in 2013 and 2018 and recipient of the President's Award for Service Excellence in 2011. He most recently held the position of senior vice president of Contact Center Operations.

Biggs most recently served on the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation board, where he chaired the fundraising committee. He was a founding member of the School Partnerships program, where he was instrumental in bringing SkillsUSA to Pensacola.

Navarre Planning Celebration

In Santa Rosa County, Navarre has begun planning for the 100th anniversary of its platting, with a year of events and activities starting in December. Last week, the Centennial Celebration Committee unveiled the Centennial Celebration logo and website navarre100.com.

Thomas Kulesa, a member of Navarre High School's second graduating class in 2001, designed the logo, which includes the Navarre Beach Bridge and skyline. It also includes some early settlement names of the Navarre area: Robledal, Eagen, Bilowry and Hiawatha.

The Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners to establish the Navarre Centennial Celebration Committee (NCCC). Soon, the website will have information for organizations to submit their 2025 events for endorsement by the NCCC to use the Navarre Centennial Celebration logo in promotions. Approved events will also be posted on navarre100. com and the Centennial Celebration Calendar.

People interested in serving on the Navarre Centennial Celebration Committee or volunteering, please contact NCCC chair Frankie Gibbs at fgibbs@mchsi.com.

2024 PACE AWARDS The Greater Pensacola Chamber of Commerce held its annual Pensacola Area Commitment to Excellence (PACE) Awards last week. Sue Straughn emceed the event and announced the following PACE Award winners:

•Advocate Leader: Crista Brandt, Northwest Florida Regional Director, Valerie's HouseC

•Leader in Education: Dr. Jocelyn Evans, Director of the Kugelman Honors Program at the University of West Florida

•Business Leader: Steve Moorhead, Founder and Managing Partner, Moorhead Law Group

•Community Leader: Michelle Salzman, Florida State Representative, District 1

•Professional Leader: Dr. Rick Fountain, Dean of the Lewis Bear Jr. College of Business, University of West Florida

•Emerging Leader: Whitney Fike, Regional Communications Manager, International Paper

•Spirit of Pensacola: Margie Moore, Managing Director, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

•Pioneer Award: Dr. James Andrews, Founder, Andrews Institute

At the event, Chamber president Todd Thomson said, "It is an honor to celebrate this year's PACE Award winners. Tonight's recipients demonstrate excellence and a true commitment to our community."

HOW TOURISM WORKS Visit Pensacola released its annual report for fiscal year 2023 taking place Oct. 1, 2022-Sept. 30, 2023. As the destination marketing organization for Escambia County, Visit Pensacola works closely with Downs and St. Germain Research to survey visitors in the area and to build out special market studies for tourism in Escambia County.

"The numbers below showcase the continued benefits of tourism for Escambia County," said Darien Schaefer, the president and CEO.

"With over $2 billion in economic impact and over 20,000 people employed, tourism works for Escambia County."

Escambia County had more than 2.5 million visitors, who made a $2.02 billion economic impact. The direct spending by visitors was nearly $1.32 billion, and hotels, condos and other short-term rentals collected $21.58 million in bed taxes, saving residents an average of $508 in local taxes.

Tourism employs 20,600 people, representing 14% of all jobs in Escambia County, and provides more than $676 million in wages to local citizens.

The Visit Pensacola team shared the Pensacola story in more than 40 markets, garnered 77 new community partners, generated 600 pieces of social content, attracted more than 760,000 partner listing views and completed more than 2,000 partner assists.

More than 2.2 million people used its website. Visit Pensacola garnered more than $5.3 million in earned media from public relations efforts, gained 54,928 new social media followers and generated $193,700,900 in group sales bookings.

For more information, visit visitpensacola.org.

Take Stock In Children

Escambia County middle schools are accepting applications for Take Stock in Children from eligible sixth- and seventh-grade students until April 24. Applications are available from the school's guidance office or on escambiaschools.org.

Take Stock in Children is a statewide program operated locally under the Escambia County Public Schools Foundation. It provides "college scholarships, mentors and hope" to deserving low-income students.

The district has 147 students in grades 7-12 in the program and 70 from the program in college. Take Stock has 153 college graduates to date.  Statewide, 97% of Take Stock students complete high school, 92% enroll in college and 70% receive a college degree.

Students are selected in middle school through an application process based on financial need. Students must be U.S. citizens, meet income eligibility requirements, have grades of all Cs or better, and maintain good school attendance and behavior.

If selected, students and a parent sign an agreement that the student will remain drug- and crime-free, maintain good grades and behavior, and graduate high school. Graduates of the Take Stock in Children program earn a Florida Prepaid College Foundation Project STARS scholarship to help alleviate the cost of college.

The program benefits students by providing support services through a volunteer mentor, who meets with the student weekly at the school, a college success coach who monitors student progress and college readiness workshops.

For more information, contact Take Stock in Children Student Services Coordinator Sally Lee at (850) 469-5458 or slee@ecsdfl.us. {in}