Levy health officials seek $16 million facility

(Discussed during surgeon general visit)

Staff Writer

Florida’s first surgeon general was told during a visit to Bronson Friday that the county needs a new $16 million Levy County Health Department building and will have to obtain state financial assistance to build it.

Dr. Ana M. Viamonte Ros, also the Florida Department of Health secretary, said state law prohibits her from lobbying for the project, but she tossed out the names of a couple of state lawmakers she said could be instrumental in helping the county secure the needed money.

Viamonte Ros encouraged local officials at the meeting to educate their state lawmakers about the project.

“It’s critical they understand your needs,” she said.

Viamonte Ros, who fled Cuba with her family in 1960, is a medical doctor. She was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist last year to be secretary of the Florida Department of Health. He later designated her as the state’s first surgeon general.

Attending the meeting at the Levy County Health Department Friday were County Commission Chairman Sammy Yearty, County Commissioner Nancy Bell, Levy County Health Department Administrator Barbara Locke, Property Appraiser Francis Akins, businesswomen Ada Marie Keeton and Libby Barr, and Steven J. Olivia, chief executive officer of the WellFlorida Council in Gainesville.

Keeton is a longtime friend of Viamonte Ros. She and Libby Barr, her sister, took part in the discussions because of their interest in building a new facility to replace what Locke described as an aging and overcrowded health department building. Both are Bronson businesswomen associated with BK Cypress.

Locke said this is the fifth consecutive year the Levy County Health Department has sought state funding from the Florida Legislature. She said the process is competitive and money is tight this year in Tallahassee, but she said the county is ranked third for funding.

The new 23,000-square-foot building would be constructed on five acres of property along County Road 337 about two blocks east of the intersection of County Road 32. The county commission has future plans to build a Courthouse Annex on the 21-acre site, but five acres has been dedicated to the health department for its proposed building. Ros was made aware of this fact.

County commissioners have no funds to construct either the annex or the health department building. That is why Locke and her staff are concentrating on securing state funding through the Legislature.

The original health department building was completed in 1961 with federal Hill-Burton funding for health facilities that provide low or reduced cost care. The first addition came in 1975 for environmental health, administration and two additional clinic exam rooms. A renovation and addition was done in 1989 to add more space for environmental health, renovate office space, to add a patient waiting area, a staff eating area and clerical space. A third addition was finished in 1995 to provide office space for a computer technician, tobacco coordinator, the healthy start program, and a classroom.

Asbestos ceiling tiles were removed in 1988 from all but two exam rooms, the employee lounge, laboratory and one administrative office. The remaining asbestos tiles were removed in 2007. A new roof was added in 2005. Two septic tank drain fields have failed since 2001 and Locke expects more to fail in the future.

There are six bathrooms in the original building, five for patient, along with one each for visitor and employee use. They were built in 1961 and are not handicap accessible. There are two handicap bathrooms in the 1995 addition for staff and patients, but they must cross a breezeway to gain access to the restrooms.

The environmental health department building has twice been treated for termites.

Parking has always been limited at the building. Many patients now park in the grassed median strip because they have nowhere else to park. The town of Bronson has been forgiving of the practice.

Health officials say the department is busy. In the nine months between October 2007 and July 2008 nearly 11,000 people visited for everything from healthy start infant care, school health, water and on-site sewage issues, groundwater contamination, to family planning and more. The health department provided 124,000 services in that time frame.

Locke said the 8,000-square-foot health department houses 47 employees. That doesn’t include the part-time employees who work at the facility such as nursing students and nurse practitioners, including two Hispanic workers to deal with Spanish speaking residents. They have no space for the second Hispanic worker.

Adult residents are turned away every day because of lack of facilities, Locke said.

The proposed $16 million facility would take care of the health department’s current space needs and would allow an additional doctor or nurse practitioner to work there.

Florida Surgeon General Ana M. Viamonte Ros paid a visit to the Levy County Health Department Friday where she met with local officials