Letter to Save Our Health Clinics

Fellow County Residents,

As referenced within my July 2011 Poinciana Pioneer article, below is a letter template you may use to contact your State Represenatives regarding the funding reductions that will impact our community health clinics. Feel free to copy and paste the information below into an email or download, print out, and mail the PDF version that is attached to this article.

Dear Represenative ______________________,

In recent weeks the Osceola County Health Department learned that critical funding for health clinics in the amount of $8.3 million was eliminated from the legislative budget as it was passed on for consideration. The funding is part of the Affordable Care Act to provide much needed health care to our community. The Osceola County Health Department health centers are the only federally qualified health centers in our community, and have become a major safety-net provider for an increasing number of under and uninsured residents.

The funding would have provided for a new permanent facility in Poinciana, a new facility in St. Cloud and an additional site at Stadium place. Each of the locations would provide comprehensive primary, preventive health and disease management services for all ages. The Poinciana site also included dental.

Osceola County ranks 50th out of 67 counties in the State with regards to uninsured residents and the lack of access to health care. The elimination of this funding is a hard hit to a community already facing 12.7% unemployment, unprecedented decline in property values, and one of the highest numbers of foreclosures in the State.

Please reinstate this valuable federal funding for our much-needed health services.

Sincerely,

Please join me in requesting our State Representatives to reinstate this valuable federal funding for our much-needed health services. Below is contact information for Representatives Horner, Precourt, Soto and Wood:

Representative Mike Horner
323 Pleasant Street
Kissimmee, FL 34744
(407) 943-3077
Email: mike.horner@myfloridahouse.gov

Representative Darren Soto
5425 S Semoran Blvd., Suite 1B
Orlando, FL 32822
(407) 249-4743
Email: darren.soto@myfloridahouse.gov

Representative Steve Precourt
7009 Dr. Phillips Blvd., Suite 270
Orlando, FL 32819
(407)355-5784
Email: steve.precourt@myfloridahouse.gov

Representative John Wood
702 Jones Avenue
Haines City, FL 33844
(863) 419-3470
Email: john.wood@myfloridahouse.gov