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Senate Resolution

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A resolution recognizing April 17, 2008, as "Jackson

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Health System Appreciation Day."

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     WHEREAS, on June 25, 1918, Jackson Memorial Hospital opened

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its doors as the City of Miami's first charity care hospital, and

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     WHEREAS, today, 90 years later, though it still remains the

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county's only charity care "safety-net" hospital, Jackson

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Memorial Hospital has evolved into Jackson Health System, an

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integrated healthcare delivery system with more than 11,000

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employees that provides medical services to residents of

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Miami-Dade County, regardless of their ability to pay, and

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     WHEREAS, Jackson Health System currently consists of 12

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primary care centers, 16 school-based clinics, two long-

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term care nursing facilities, an outpatient diagnostic

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center, a children's hospital, a rehabilitation hospital,

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two community hospitals, and the system's centerpiece, the

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regional referral, tertiary care Jackson Memorial Hospital,

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which is the primary teaching hospital of the University of

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Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, and

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     WHEREAS, Jackson Health System is made up of five

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hospitals: Jackson Memorial Hospital, Holtz Children's

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Hospital, Jackson South Community Hospital, Jackson North

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Medical Center, and Jackson Rehabilitation Hospital, and

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     WHEREAS, Jackson Memorial Hospital, the system's

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flagship hospital with 1,498 beds, is the third-largest

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teaching hospital in the United States through an academic

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affiliation with the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller

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School of Medicine, and is also a training center for

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physicians and other healthcare professionals from around

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the world, and

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     WHEREAS, Holtz Children's Hospital is one of the

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largest children's hospitals in the southeast United

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States, one of three centers in the country that specialize

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in pediatric multi-organ transplants, home to one of the

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largest neonatal intensive care units in the United States,

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and has more pediatric physicians on the "Best Doctors in

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America" list than any other children's hospital in South

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Florida, and

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     WHEREAS, Jackson South Community Hospital is a 199-bed

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acute-care hospital located in south Miami-Dade County,

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designed specifically for patient comfort and convenience

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with state-of-the-art technology, leading-edge treatments

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and services, and a wide array of specialties and

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subspecialties practiced by nationally respected, board-

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certified physicians and healthcare professionals, and

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     WHEREAS, Jackson North Medical Center is a 382-bed,

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acute-care, community hospital serving the residents of

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north Miami-Dade and south Broward counties which offers a

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variety of services including 24-hour adult and pediatric

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emergency care, maternity care, and rehabilitation, and is

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also home to specialized centers such as the Wound Care

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Center, the Center for Mental Health, and the Pain & Spine

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Institute, and

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     WHEREAS, Jackson Rehabilitation Hospital is a state-

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designated facility for its Brain & Spinal Cord Injury

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Program and offers additional services that include

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treatment programs for medical rehabilitation, burns, and

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hand injuries, and

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     WHEREAS, Jackson Health System also offers health care

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through 12 primary care centers, the remote "Care-A-Van"

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program, school-based care delivered in 16 school-based

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clinics venues and initiatives, and the Jackson Health

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System Primary Care Initiative, and

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     WHEREAS, the innumerable accolades received by, and the

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remarkable accomplishments of, member institutions of the Jackson

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Health System, are truly voluminous, and

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     WHEREAS, in 2007, Jackson Health System spent nearly $500

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million on charity care, a level that is among the highest in the

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nation, and

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     WHEREAS, the University of Miami Miller School of

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Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital have consistently

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ranked in U.S. News & World Report among "America's Best

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Hospitals," and

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     WHEREAS, in 2007, the University of Miami/Jackson

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Memorial Hospital was ranked in four different specialties:

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ophthalmology; ear, nose and throat; digestive disorders;

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and kidney disease, and has more ranked specialties than

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any other hospital in South Florida, and

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     WHEREAS, the Ryder Trauma Center, located at the

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University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, is the

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only adult and pediatric Level 1 Trauma Center in Miami-

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Dade County, is one of the busiest trauma centers in the

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nation, and is the only trauma center chosen by the United

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States Army to train its military surgical teams before

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being deployed to areas of conflict, and

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     WHEREAS, Holtz Children's Hospital's 126-bed Newborn

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Special Care Center is also a regional referral facility

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that is home to a 66-bed, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care

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Unit, which is the largest in Florida, and

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     WHEREAS, the Transplant Center, located at the

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University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, is

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ranked among the busiest in the nation, and Jackson

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Memorial Hospital is the only Florida hospital to perform

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every kind of solid organ transplantation, with more than

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half of the world's reported multi-organ transplants having

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been performed there, and

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     WHEREAS, the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Burn

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Center has been one of the nation's leading burn treatment

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facilities since its founding in the 1960s and is the only

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such center in Miami-Dade County, and

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     WHEREAS, Jackson Health System has recently affiliated with

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the newly created Florida International University's School of

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Medicine, and

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     WHEREAS, as is obvious, the vast scope and superlative

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quality of health care provided to the citizens of South Florida

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by Jackson Health System is of incalculable benefit, not only to

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area residents directly served by Jackson Health System but to

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the State of Florida as a whole, and constitutes a level of care

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rarely found elsewhere in the nation, and

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     WHEREAS, it is fitting and appropriate that on this, the

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90th anniversary of the founding of Jackson Memorial Hospital,

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the citizens of the state should recognize Jackson Health System

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for its astounding growth, achievements, and service to the

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people of the State of Florida, NOW, THEREFORE,

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Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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     That in celebration of Jackson Memorial Hospital's 90 years

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of continued service to the residents of Miami-Dade County, April

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17, 2008, is recognized as "Jackson Health System Appreciation

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Day."

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     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with

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the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Marvin O'Quinn,

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president of the Public Health Trust and chief executive officer

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of Jackson Health System, as a tangible token of the sentiments

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of the Florida Senate.