Public funding accounted for about 85 percent of Suncoast’s funding, with the rest from private sources. Of that 85 percent, 58 percent was made up of federal funding last year, with the rest of the public funding coming from sources like the discretionary money from Pinellas County. The $265,000 from Pinellas County came from the county’s general fund.
It supports a 19-person fulltime staff, which recently received a 3 percent pay raise approved by the board after four to five years without one.
Some of the funding helps subsidize health care costs for private companies with employees with HIV/AIDS, and goes to helping people with HIV/AIDS get lower cost health insurance and medication, McKalip said.
“My goal in serving there is to help as many people as we can with the resources we have,” McKalip said.
In Pinellas County, 2,530 people were able to receive low-cost prescriptions through MedNet. This year, 4,500 medications were requested, and 8,400 were found, while 3,500 people were referred to other places, and 338 people could not be helped because of things like too high of an income or unavailable medications.
McKalip said the council is seeking more private funding to offset the amount of public funding needed. Private funding has dropped from 25 percent to 18 percent over the past few years, he said.
The Suncoast Health Council was created by Florida Statute 408 in 1983. The public/private venture and non-profit community health organization is responsible for regional health care planning.
Pinellas County Commissioner Nancy Bostock questioned the county’s oversight of the $265,000 and said the Board of County Commissioners should have a better system for keeping track of the non-profit organizations that receive county funding.
Commission Chair Susan Latvala said the list of non-profits is outdated, and includes some organizations that no longer receive funding. The board would address the issue in an upcoming workshop meeting, she said.
“It is an interesting exercise in responsibility,” Bostock said. “We do have some responsibility to that $265,000.”
