Town Hall Meeting on the Emergency Care Crisis
 

---

The Florida College of Emergency Physicians hosted the first ever Meeting on the Emergency Medicine Crisis in on Wednesday, March 14 in the Cabinet Room at the State Capitol Building in Tallahassee. A distinguished panel of speakers with diverse knowledge of the emergency care system was on hand to discuss our state's emergency care issues and challenges, with a focus on the on-call specialist shortage in the ED, and overcrowding/diversion.

Panel Speakers included:

  Andrew C. Agwunobi, MD - Secretary,
   Florida Agency for Health Care
   Administration
  Dave Freeman, REMT-P - Orange
   County EMS/Disaster Health Manager
  Michael Gentry - President/CEO of
   Florida Hospital Memorial System
  Rosemary Goudreau
  Gayle Harrell - State Representative
   (District 81)
  Patrick Hutton, MD - President,
   Florida Medical Association
  David Seaberg, MD, FACEP -
   American College of Emergency
   Physicians Board of Directors and
   Past - Member of Emergency
   Department Management Group and
   Past President of FCEP

The panel members addressed these problems from different angles, in an effort to educate the public, media and legislature on the nature of these issues, why they provide an obstacle to access to care, and potential systemic solutions.