National Headlines

Upcoming Events

Sixth Annual Caribbean Health Summit

Sept. 6, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., Orlando
Central Florida Fairgrounds & Exposition Park
For details,call (407)648-9440, extension 10, 14 or 16, or visit website

Tobacco Education and Use Prevention Advisory Council Meeting

Sept. 8, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Tallahassee
Department of Health
For details, visit the Council website

Board of Medicine Probable Cause Panel- South

September 12, 2 p.m.
Conference Call: (888) 808-6959
Code: 2454131
Contact:  Trisha L. Grubbs at (850) 245-4640, ext. 8145 or by e-mail.

100 Ideas Foundation Statewide Policy Discussion on Autism & Developmental Disabilities

September 15-16, Orlando
Portofino Bay Hotel
For details, visit the web site

Division of Medical Quality Assurance Public Meeting

Sept. 17, 8:30 a.m. – 12 Noon, Tallahassee
Betty Easley Conf. Center, Rm. 152
Contact:  Cassandra Pasley, (850) 245-4224

Underwriting Association (FJMMUA) Board meeting

Sept. 16-17, 4 p.m., Tampa
Saddlebrook Resort

America’s Health Care at Risk: Finding a Cure

Sept. 17-18, Orlando
Orlando International Airport Hyatt Regency
For details,  visit the web site

National Psychoneuroimmunology Conference

Sept. 18-21, Tampa
Saddlebrook Resort
Contact Susanna Martinez by email or at (813) 974-2776

Low Income Pool (LIP) Council Meeting

Sept. 19, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Tampa
Tampa International Airport
Conference Call: 888-808-6959, Code: 4138067
Contact Edwin Stevens by email or at (850)414-2759 or visit the LIP web site

Dialogue on Health Across Cultures: A Workshop on Cultural Competency in Cancer Care for South Florida

September 20, Ft. Lauderdale
Nova Southeastern University
More info: MGonzalez16@med.miami.edu or 305-243-4821

Board of Medicine Probable Cause Panel- North

September 26, 2 p.m.
Conference Call: (888) 808-6959, Code: 2454131
Contact: Joyce Blackwell at (850) 245-4640, ext. 8142 or e-mail her

National Academy State Health Policy Conference

October 5-7,Tampa
Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina
Viist web site for details

Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Medicaid Reform in Florida: Year 2

October 15, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.,Tampa
Marriott Tampa Airport
Contact Jennifer Thompson by email or at 202-687-2471


What is Florida Health News?

Florida Health News Inc., an independent online news service, is a not-for-profit journalistic enterprise that was launched in March 2007 with seed money from foundations.  Our mission: to inform the public on state and local health policy and finance issues as they develop.

Florida Health News (FHN) posts health-related stories reported around the state, highlights the Florida impact of national stories, posts upcoming conferences and other key events and tracks state health legislation.   The news service provides original coverage of Florida health developments, and that coverage will expand in 2008.   FHN also offers e-Alerts, a Monday-through-Friday news service, available at no charge by signing up at this site. 

FHN, a Florida not-for-profit corporation, is sponsored by the Florida Health Policy Center, a unique collaborative of Florida foundations dedicated to furthering access to neutral and objective health information. The members are: Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Inc., Florida Philanthropic Network, Health Foundation of South Florida, Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, Jessie Ball duPont Fund, Palm Healthcare Foundation, Quantum Foundation and Winter Park Health Foundation. More information about the collaborative is available at www.floridahealthpolicycenter.org.

In 2008 we will redesign our site to add new features and we value your feedback on what you find useful (or not).  Please send your comments, story tips and news of conferences and other events to the editor, Carol Gentry, at carol.gentry@floridahealthnews.org. Desk: 727-522-4876; Mobile: 727-410-3266.

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Here is a look at some of the people behind Florida Health News:

Board of Directors (volunteers)

President: Paula Hays, Gulfport

From 1984 until 2001, Paula Hays was chief executive officer of Boley Centers for Behavioral Health Care. Boley is the largest residential and rehabilitation program for persons with psychiatric and emotional problems in the southeastern US, with a yearly operating budget of over $10 million and campuses providing day services and programs for vocational training and juvenile justice. Ms. Hays, who holds a masters of science degree in communication disorders from USF and extra study in exceptional child education, now teaches courses in ethics and administration of not-for-profits in the Program for Experienced Learners at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. She is a volunteer for the Tampa Bay SPCA and avid photographer.

Vice President: Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, Tampa

Jay Wolfson is the Distinguished Service Professor of Public Health and Medicine and the Associate Vice President for Health Law, Policy and Safety at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He is a leader in Florida’s attempt to develop an electronic health network and a member of the governing board of the Health Professions Education Consortium of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. He directs the federally designated Suncoast Center for Patient Safety at USF and is co-director of the Consortium for Law and Medicine for USF and Stetson College of Law. Dr. Wolfson became nationally known while serving as guardian ad litem for Terry Schiavo, reporting to the governor and courts. He holds a doctorate in public health from the University of Texas, a law degree from Stetson, a master’s degree in public health from Indiana University, a master’s degree in history from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Illinois. He was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tokyo Medical School, a Faculty Scholar to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a W.K. Kellogg Fellow in health care finance.

Secretary/Treasurer: Kim Walsh-Childers, PhD, Gainesville

A professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Dr. Walsh-Childers is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia and earned her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on print media news coverage of health issues, mass media effects on individual health and health policy and the relationship between content and adolescent sexual beliefs and behavior. She teaches journalism ethics, news-writing, a graduate seminar in mass media and health and magazine feature writing. She is an active member of the Association of Health Care Journalists.

Immediate Past President: Martha Lenderman

Martha Lenderman retired from state government in 1996 as mental-health and substance-abuse program administrator for the Department of Children and Families in Pinellas and Pasco counties. She now consults and testifies in matters concerning Florida’s mental-health law and serves on numerous public and non-profit boards, including the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas, Hospice of the Florida Suncoast, Pasco-Pinellas Area Agency on Aging, Mental Health Coalition of Pinellas, and the Juvenile Justice Board for the 6th Circuit.

Amy Dean, West Palm Beach

Amy Dean, Vice President of Policy & Workforce Programs for Palm Healthcare Foundation Inc. in West Palm Beach, is responsible for the foundation’s nursing workforce initiatives, including the Healthcare Workforce Partnership community collaboration, and its health policy and advocacy efforts. Prior to joining the nonprofit sector in 2001, she worked in real estate finance and investment banking in Chicago; Sydney, Australia; New York City; and Miami. Ms. Dean is a member of several local and national health and social services organizations. She has a master of business administration from the University of Chicago, a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a bachelor's degree in health services from Florida Atlantic University.

Philip Galewitz, West Palm Beach

Philip Galewitz has been a health writer for The Palm Beach Post for eight years and is a board member and newsletter editor for the Association of Health Care Journalists. In 2004-05, he was a Kaiser Family Foundation Media Fellow and spent the year researching and writing about community solutions for the uninsured. Mr. Galewitz was a national heath writer with The Associated Press and worked as a health writer for The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. He has contributed to several national magazines and won a number of awards for his work. He has a bachelor's degree in health planning and administration and a master's in public administration with an emphasis in health policy, both from Pennsylvania State University.

David Lawrence Jr., Miami

David Lawrence Jr., who spent 35 years in newspapers and retired in 1999 as publisher of The Miami Herald, is now chairman of The Children’s Trust, a dedicated source of funds to help children in Miami-Dade. He was a key figure in the passage of an amendment for universal pre-kindergarten programs in 2002 and led the later efforts on implementation at the request of then-Gov. Jeb Bush. He is president of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation and University Scholar for Early Childhood Development and Readiness at the University of Florida. During his tenure as publisher, The Herald won five Pulitzer Prizes. Before coming to Miami in 1989, he was publisher and executive editor of the Detroit Free Press, and had been editor of The Charlotte Observer. Mr. Lawrence earned his bachelor of science in journalism from the University of Florida, one of 10 institutions that later granted him an honorary doctorate. He graduated from the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1983.

Lisa Portelli, Winter Park

Lisa Portelli, a program director at Winter Park Health Foundation, serves as statewide coordinator for the Florida Health Policy Center, the collaborative that provided startup funds for Florida Health News. A journalism graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Ms. Portelli earned a master’s in public administration from University of Central Florida and led several housing programs for the homeless and jobless before joining the foundation in 2002. Ms. Portelli has served on the Governor's Commission on Homelessness and was founding chairman of Healing the Children of Florida Inc. A member of numerous non-profit boards, Ms. Portelli was awarded the Celebration of Leadership-Tribute to Outstanding Women award in 1997.

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Staff, consultants

Editor, Executive Director: Carol Gentry, St. Petersburg

Carol Gentry, founder and editor of Florida Health News, has three decades of experience covering health finance and policy, with an emphasis on consumer education and protection. She covered health and medicine for the St. Petersburg Times for 10 years, for the Tampa Tribune for two years and for the Wall Street Journal for three years, in addition to being a member of the editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel in 2004-05. She has written for national magazines and been a commentator for public radio’s Marketplace; she is active in the Association of Health Care Journalists, serving as a judge for the awards each year. Ms. Gentry was a Kaiser Family Foundation Media Fellow in 1994-95, conducting research on the managed-care movement’s effects on patients and health-care professionals. In 1996, she earned a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in health policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She has taught health journalism at the college and professional level in this and other countries and directed the Knight Journalism Fellowships at CDC for almost four years. She also served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia.  

Research Associate: Barbara Clark-Alexander, Tampa

Barbara Clark-Alexander, who holds a Ph.D. in public health, is on loan to Florida Health News half-time from University of South Florida College of Public Health. At FHN, she will use her research expertise to assist the journalists in creating useful and valid articles. At USF, her current research looks at how the HIV/AIDS epidemic is affecting the 50+ population. She also is helping to develop a USF-sponsored community health system in Pasco County. Among the topics she has done research on are tobacco and drug use among students, living facilities for older adults, and Medicaid managed care. For 16 years she has co-led the Florida Family AIDS Network in five counties. She is a licensed dental hygienist.

Intern: Brittany Rajchel, Gainesville 

Brittany Rajchel is a graduate student in journalism at the University of Florida, expecting to receive her master’s degree in summer 2008. She has a bachelor of science in journalism and a bachelor of arts in history. Before taking on the part-time job of gathering newspaper stories of interest each morning for Florida Health News, she wrote for the Gainesville Sun and freelanced for several Florida magazines. She currently teaches media writing at UF and works as a personal trainer and fitness instructor.

Consultant: Patricia Curtis, Tallahassee

Patricia Curtis, a communications consultant with a background in both journalism and non-profits, served as managing editor for Florida Health News during its launch and first nine months of service. She now tracks bills and events at the capital and stands in for the editor on daily duties when necessary. In January 2007, Ms. Curtis retired from state government, where she was a top policy aide in substance abuse and mental health for the Department of Children & Families. She spent 13 years as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Tallahassee before becoming an information officer and public affairs coordinator for two state agencies and press secretary for a Florida gubernatorial campaign. In the late 1980s, she joined a non-profit behavioral healthcare association as a policy analyst, lobbyist and editor of various publications, including websites.

Webmaster: John Baker, Tallahassee

John Baker owns Rapido Internet Services (Rapido.com), a contracted provider of site design and development , including content management, database and Web hosting. A graphics designer, he has worked with Pat in developing Web sites for non-profit groups.