Resolution 2000-197
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RESOLUTION No. 2000 - 1 Q7
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, TO URGE JEB BUSH, THE GOVERNOR
OF FLORIDA, TO STOP THE CLOSING OF G. PIERCE WOOD
MEMORIAL HOSPITAL IN DESOTO COUNTY; TO INVESTIGATE THE
TREND ACROSS THIS NATION THAT IS MOVING MENTAL HEALTH
AWAY FROM COMMUNITY BASED FACILITIES; AND TO INCREASE
THE FUNDING OF MENTAL HEALTH CARE TO PERMIT G. PIERCE
WOOD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL TO SERVE THE NEEDS IN THE
EIGHTEEN COUNTIES IN SOUTH FLORIDA.
WHEREAS, G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital has been a state facility in
DeSoto County since 1947; and
WHEREAS, G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital serves eighteen counties in
South Florida which include Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry,
Highlands, Hlllsborough, Indian River, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Okeechobee, Pasco,
Pinellas, Polk, St. Lucie, and Sarasota; and
WHEREAS, G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital serves the mental health care
needs of the most severely impaired patients in these eighteen counties; and
WHEREAS, The Governor and the Department of Children and Families
proposed a plan that will close the G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital; and
WHEREAS, The closing of G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital would create a
monumental mental health crisis in the eighteen counties; and
WHEREAS, Since Charter Glade Hospital closed, the burden of providing
mental health care to Southwest Florida is severely compounded; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Children and Families did not request the
additional funding that is needed to overcome the cut in the disproportionate share of
Medicare by the federal government for mental health care needs.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, that: the Collier County Board
of County Commissioners unanimously supports the needs of the community and
hereby urges Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida, to stop the closing of G. Pierce Wood
Memorial Hospital in DeSoto County; to investigate the trend across this nation that is
moving mental health away from community based facilities; and to increase the
funding of mental health care to permit G. Pierce Wood Memorial Hospital to serve the
needs in the above-listed eighteen counties in South Florida.
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....0...'. .:,~:0;'i:'~ ~;"'TJ.'lis Resolution adopted this ~ day of June 2000, after motion, second and
:<>:>. ,:~::~~o~~:t~te favoring same.
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~ '\~~~:.~..:)'A:Tt?:ST:~ ~ BOARD OF OUNTY COMMISSIONERS
~ ..1, ;:i,:~i':-,~DWI~HT:I:;. BROCK, Clerk COLLIER C N ,F ORID
\,t::_h!~!!J?1.ftY~;~"~~ to CIIII":'~TIM
. . - s1gnatuft onl1.
Approved as to form
And legal suffici cy:
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