Florida State University (FSU) has been given the green light by the Board of Governors (BOG) to issue $414 million in bonds to finance a new hospital in Panama City Beach as it brands its presence in Northwest Florida as FSU Health.

The FSU Board of Trustees approved the proposal hours before the BOG gave final approval.

Project planning and design have not been completed but BOG documents show that the project — including design, construction and equipment for a five-floor, 340,000 square foot facility — is projected to total $328 million.

The Panama City Beach hospital will initially open with 80 beds and four operating rooms to support orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, gynecology, and general surgery. FSU Health in Panama City’s footprint will eventually be able to accommodate up to 600 beds.

The hospital will be built on an undeveloped 18-acre parcel of land donated by The St. Joe Co. adjacent to a new urgent care facility that Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare (TMH) built called TMH Physician Partners and Urgent Care facility.

Documents show FSU intends to enter into a long-term lease and management agreement with TMH to manage day-to-day operations. TMH will make lease payments to FSU in an amount greater than or equal to the annual debt service of the bonds.

The approval comes as FSU and TMH, which have been operating under a memo of understanding, are at odds over the future of a city of Tallahassee-owned hospital and whether it should be transitioned into an academic teaching institution as part of FSU or continue to be run by TMH, which has a long term-lease with the city to manage the facility.

Hospital administrator and Board of Governors member Alan Levine said he normally doesn’t involve himself in local disputes but took offense at TMH CEO Mark O’Bryant’s comments to the local newspaper about the dispute.

O’Bryant told the Tallahassee Democrat that TMH is community-based and that its board comprises local residents. By contrast, he said, FSU is governed by an appointed board whose members are not local.

When asked whether FSU was trying to emulate the University of Florida (UF), which operates its health care facilities in Gainesville and Jacksonville under the UF Health moniker, O’Bryant told the paper: “I’m not sure that’s the model you want. They don’t really focus as much on the local community over there because they have a different mission. Their mission is for more academic research. So if you think about the whole population, people should be concerned.”

Levine, who is Chair, President and CEO of Ballad Health, said he “takes great offense to that comment.”

Levine told the BOG he compared charity and Medicaid care between UF Health and TMH and discovered that UF has three times as many Medicaid patients as TMH, with a 15% caseload versus 5%, respectively. Additionally, UF Health offers a financial assistance policy to provide charity care to people who earn 200% or less of the federal poverty level. TMH’s financial assistance policy is set at 150% of the FPL.

“I don’t think it’s fair. If you were to go to Jacksonville or go to Gainesville and ask people whether or not our academic medical center cares about the local community and that’s not what drives decisions they make, then you don’t know much about academic medical centers,” Levine said.

He called O’Bryant’s comments “uneducated” and said, “I do think something strong needs to be said to respond to that.”

Levine offered this unsolicited advice: “FSU gets to decide who its partners are but I would strongly encourage their partner here in Tallahassee to rethink their position on that because it’s not true.”

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Christine Sexton reporting. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: [email protected]

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A unique law in Florida that bars adult children over 25 and their parents from pursuing medical malpractice claims is close to repeal, following an overwhelming vote to do so on the House floor.

Members of the chamber voted 104-6 for HB 6017, which would delete from Florida Statutes the provision, known derisively as “free kill,” after 35 years on the books.

“It’s taken a long time to get here, but I’m so glad that we’ve made it,” said Fort Pierce Republican Rep. Dana Trabulsy, who filed the measure with Orlando Democratic Rep. Johanna López.

“We have a wonderful health care system in Florida, (but) mistakes happen. Malpractice happens, (and) nobody should lose a family member due to medical malpractice and lose the ability to access the courts just because they were the age of 25, unmarried with no dependents.”

Trabulsy noted that lawmakers passed the existing restriction in 1990 to reduce insurance rates.

“Lo and behold, insurance rates did not come down,” she said. “It’s about time that we change this law and put the courts back in the hands of Floridians.”

HB 6017 and its Senate analog (SB 734) by Jacksonville Republican Sen. Clay Yarborough encountered ample pushback in committee from medical and insurance organizations, including the American College of Physicians, Florida Hospital Association, Florida Insurance Council, Florida Medical Association, ProAssurance Corp., The Doctors Company and Florida Osteopathic Medical Association.

Retired OBG/YN Miriam Ramirez said she had to stop delivering babies due to the cost of medical malpractice insurance. Daniel Daube, a physician and surgeon who has worked in Panama City for more than 30 years, said Florida needs to attract more practitioners in the state for better care — something HB 6017 and SB 734 would counteract.

Kathryn Magar, Vice President of Claims and Insurance at hospital operator Health First, said the legislation would make her company’s four medical facilities all but uninsurable.

“I’ve yet to meet a clinician who got into the medical profession to cause harm,” she said. “The ‘free kill’ term is, quite frankly, offensive.”

They and others called the legislation “compassionate but misdirected” and argued it would lead to an influx of wrongful death lawsuits and even higher insurance and health care costs.

But that opposition was met with testimonies from dozens of Floridians who lost loved ones and then had no recourse to hold those responsible accountable.

Ethan Perez described maltreatment of his grandfather that included injection with hydrogen peroxide, which an autopsy deemed to be “homicide.” Darcy McGill, who buried her mother, called “free kill” Florida’s “dirty little secret.”

Cindy Jenkins, whose daughter died two years ago due to what she described as “horrific negligence” at a hospital in St. Johns County, said medical malpractice premiums are high in Florida because Florida has a lot of medical malpractice.

“The way you decrease medical malpractice premiums is to stop medical malpractice,” she said. “My child is a free kill. I have no justice.”

Lauren Korniyenko’s 70-year-old mother died in a hospital two days after what she called an “uncomplicated surgery to repair a fractured hip.” Brevard County law enforcement cordoned off the room as a possible homicide scene, she said, and the autopsy revealed staff ignored at least 10 “critical signs of a surgical site infection” that led to her death.

“In an era focused on greater scrutiny of government spending, this law enables the waste and abuse of taxpayer money,” she said.

They and many other family members attended Wednesday’s House floor vote, sitting in the East Gallery. Trabulsy and López recited their lost loved ones’ names.

AARP Florida and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans backed the bills.

Ocoee Democratic Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, a lawyer, said HB 6017 would help to wipe away “a stain on our state’s moral conscience.”

“Grief does not expire at 25. The bond between a parent and child does not dissolve with age, and the right to seek justice should never be determined by a birthday,” she said. “This legislation is more than legal reform; it’s a declaration of humanity.”

All six “no” votes came from Republicans: Reps. James Buchanan of Sarasota, Wyman Duggan of Jacksonville, Tom Fabricio of Miami Springs, Karen Gonzalez Pittman of Tampa, Toby Overdorf of Palm City and Will Robinson of Bradenton.

None asked questions about, or argued against, the bill before it passed.

HB 6017 will now go to the Senate, where Yarborough’s bill awaits a floor vote after clearing all three committees to which it was referred.

Yarborough can either substitute HB 6017 for his bill, amend his to match it, or send it back to the House to be amended to match his bill.

That third option is unlikely to happen; except for some organizational difference, the bills are identical.

If passed, the legislation will take effect July 1.

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A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics contributed to this report.

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Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

House Speaker Daniel Perez wants Florida to become the only state in the nation to permanently reduce its sales tax, proposing a 0.75% cut on Wednesday to bring the state sales tax from its current 6% to 5.25%. 

“This will not be a temporary measure, a stunt or a tax holiday. This will be a permanent, recurring tax reduction,” Perez said.

Perez said it would be the most significant tax cut in state history, projecting that Floridians would save $5 billion annually. 

“We have forgotten a fundamental truth — this money isn’t ours. Tax dollars don’t belong to the government, they belong to the people,” Perez said. 

He noted that while the Legislature in recent history has “justifiably called out local governments for misspending and mismanagement,” lawmakers “have been reluctant to turn our gaze on ourselves and hold state government to those same standards.” 

Pointedly, he said the state has a spending problem.

“More importantly, we have a recurring spending problem,” Perez added, noting that while member projects — often referred to as budget turkeys — “gain the most attention” because of vetoes, they don’t impact the state’s overall budget growth. He called such projects “irrelevant and incidental” to the state’s overall budget process in the long term. 

Perez applauded the work of the Subcommittee Chairs to “find real savings” and said the results will be published Friday in the proposed House General Appropriations Act, which he said will likewise be historic.

“Our budget will not only be lower than the Governor’s proposed budget, it will also be lower than the budget passed by the Legislature last term. For the first time since the Great Recession, we will roll out a budget that actually spends less money than we did in the prior fiscal year,” Perez said. 

Read more on Florida Politics.

Evening Reads

—“Here’s what Mike Waltz won’t tell you” via Chris Cillizza of So What?

—”Here are the attack plans that Donald Trump’s advisers shared on Signal” via Jeffrey Goldberg and Shane Harris of The Atlantic

—”The Atlantic editor who broke ‘Signalgate’ did nothing wrong. He could be prosecuted anyway.” via Mark Rasch of SLATE

—”How the Signal transcript undermines key Trump administration claims” via Aaron Blake of The Washington Post

—”Hegseth’s leak would have warned the enemy. The White House is using semantics to obscure that.” via David E. Sanger of The New York Times

—”Corporate America’s euphoria over Trump’s ‘Golden Age’ is giving way to distress” via Nick Timiraos, Alex Leary and Chip Cutter of The Wall Street Journal

—”‘Is Waltz Jonah from Veep?’: Team Trump fumes over its most idiotic scandal yet.” via Asawin Suebsaeng, Ryan Bort and Nikki McCann Ramirez of Rolling Stone

—”Florida bill opens door to firing squads, lethal gas for executions” via Romy Ellenbogen of the Tampa Bay Times

—”Sheriff’s office: ICE has deportation orders for 10,000 people in Orange County” via Stephen Hudak of the Orlando Sentinel

—”Say hello to FSU Health” via Christine Sexton of the Florida Phoenix

—”TMH calls for community action as Mayor, City Manager address ‘secret meetings’ backlash” via William L. Hatfield and Elena Barrera of the Tallahassee Democrat

Quote of the Day

“We have forgotten a fundamental truth – this money isn’t ours. Tax dollars don’t belong to the government, they belong to the people.”

— House Speaker Daniel Perez, proposing a permanent cut to the state sales tax.

Put it on the Tab

Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.

House Speaker Daniel Perez gets a Tax Relief for proposing a first-ever reduction to the state sales tax.

You can’t run a bar without orange juice, and Senate President Ben Albritton is doing his part to keep Florida groves running, so he gets his pick of the best orange juice-based cocktails.

Pour a Smoke on the Water for Sen. Tracie Davis, whose legislation to protect medical professionals from surgical smoke moved through another Committee.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Djokovic, Pagula featured tonight at Miami Open

Novak Djokovic and Jessica Pagula highlight tonight’s schedule at the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium (7 p.m. ET, Tennis Channel).

Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam singles champion, continues to play at a high level at 37. He is ranked fifth in the ATP Rankings and came into the tournament as the number four seed on the men’s side. In his career, he has won 99 titles and has earned a record $186 million in prize money in singles and doubles combined.

Djokovic is scheduled to face 25th-ranked Sebastian Korda this evening. The son of 1998 Australian Open Petr Korda has faced Djokovic only once before. Djokovic beat Korda in three sets in Adelaide, Australia, in 2023. 

Pegula, the fourth seed in the women’s singles draw, faces 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in a quarterfinal match. Pegula, who lost in the finals of the U.S. Open last year, briefly rose to become the top-ranked women’s tennis player in the world in 2023. She is currently ranked fourth in the WTA Rankings.

The tournament is the last hard-court event in the United States until July, when the tours return to Washington D.C.

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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.

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