County Wants to Take Over Jackson Hospitals
Jackson Health System may be the target of a hostile takeover
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MIAMI - SEPTEMBER 17: Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez speaks during a press conference as he defends his budget policies before a commission meeting to come up with a final budget for Miami-Dade county on September 17, 2009 in Miami, Florida. The Mayor used the opportunity to defend himself and lash out at some of the media on reports that he gave raises to executives, police and firefighters as the county faces a budget crunch. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Carlos Alvarez
Jackson Health System has said they would turn to President Obama for a bail out, but they might have to worry about a hostile take over by the county.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez is proposing the county disband the 15-member board that runs the county's largest healthcare system and replace it with a county-appointed 7-member board.
The proposal comes after a scathing audit of Jackson's finances, which revealed the local hospitals are losing as much as $17 million a month. Jackson's financial woes could result in 2,000 employees losing their jobs.
Hospital officials and employee union heads recently came to an agreement not to lay off workers for the next 45 days, but that headway doesn't appear to be enough for Alvarez.
During his state of the county address, Alvarez vowed not to use county taxpayer money to bail out the struggling hospital.
The county takeover would need county commission approval, and it's unclear how Jackson would combat such a move.
