The Florida Department of Health (DOH) and Gov. Ron DeSantis advanced several health care initiatives in 2023 intended to improve the quality of life in the state.
Florida continued a new program for addiction-recovery care, funded youth development and further cancer research, and provided financial incentives for medical students.
State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo said in a news release that funding from the state legislature allowed for improvements in Florida’s public health infrastructure, its response to natural disasters, and furthered a move toward “holistic and thoughtful approach[es] to health.”
Critics accused him of making this edit to “exaggerate” the risk of cardiac death from taking the mRNA vaccines, but Dr. Ladapo defended it as a scientific “revision.”
Florida’s efforts reflect a nationwide push to improve a public health crisis that was worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the improvement, life expectancy rates are still lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Between 2019 and 2021, life expectancy across the population dropped by 2.4 years, driven largely by COVID-19-related deaths.
Drug overdose deaths are also a national concern.
Overdose deaths reached a record high of 106,699 in 2021, an almost 16 percent increase from 2020. Opiates were involved in 75.4 percent of all drug overdose deaths in 2021, while 88 percent of these fatalities involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl or oxycodone.
Addiction Recovery Program
Aug. 4 marked the first anniversary of Florida’s Coordinated Opioid Recovery Network (CORE), touted by the governor as the “first comprehensive solution to addiction care in the nation.”CORE is the state’s effort to give addicts the tools needed to reach sobriety.
Established in August 2022, CORE is intended to take an “aggressive approach” to the opioid and fentanyl drug crises.
The governor’s office says more than 21 tons of fentanyl have crossed the southern border since January 2021, allegedly enough to kill 9.7 billion people.
While national statistics on drug-related deaths stayed relatively consistent between 2021 and 2022, Florida saw a decrease of 4 percent during this period. Between July 2022 and July 2023, Florida’s drug overdose deaths decreased by more than 5 percent, according to CDC data.
CORE utilizes a “holistic approach” while treating addiction as a disease. The model reduces overdose rates to zero percent in patients who have received at least two years of consecutive care.
The program is available in 12 counties statewide and uses nearly 550,000 services to support patient recovery, including disease treatment, dental care, primary care, psychiatric evaluation, and maternal care.
CORE also utilizes Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), which reduces the risk of fatal overdoses by more than 50 percent while supporting long-term sobriety.
MAT combines medication with behavioral therapy, utilizing medications that bind to the same brain receptors as opioids to reduce withdrawals and cravings without the euphoria associated with the patient’s original substance of choice.
“Since its inception last August, CORE has helped to facilitate connections with key stakeholders and health care networks across our state to combat overdose and addiction and connect individuals suffering from substance use disorder with life-saving care,” Department of Child and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris said in an August news release.
“The work that the CORE program has done in its first year is unprecedented, and the department is so proud to work alongside the Department of Health and other partners in continuing the fight to end the opioid epidemic.”
Supporting Youth and Childhood Development
Florida’s Early Steps program offers early intervention services for infants and toddlers up to 36 months of age who possess or are at risk for developmental delays or disabilities. These services bolster parents and caregivers to encourage children to participate in daily activities and routines with their families.Early Steps served almost 61,000 children between 2022 and 2023, a 3.6 percent increase from the previous year.
Almost 98 percent of the children who finished Florida’s Early Steps program improved their social-emotional skills, cognitive ability and knowledge, and the understanding and use of language.
Early Steps employed the Newborn Hearing Screening Program to test newborns for congenital hearing problems. Since the program began in January, 107 newborns have been found with congenital Cytomegalovirus, giving their parents early treatment options.
The Medical Foster Care Program tried to address the demand for more foster families to sponsor children with complex medical needs. The program deployed a recruitment portal to match interested parents with children who need homes, resulting in 153 parents becoming medical foster parents.
Since July, 48 new parents have received training through the program, and seven of these families are now providing homes to children in need.
Florida is also working towards lowering the rate of maternal morbidity and mortality, implementing a smartphone application to give consistent risk assessments for mothers who are up to six weeks postpartum, according to the DOH.
These medical assessments address women who might be at risk of mood disorders, diabetes, surgical infections, hypertension, heart disease, lactation problems, and substance abuse.
A medical team reviews these responses in real-time to identify any urgent or emergency needs while recommending treatment options.
The DOH also launched the Florida Pediatric Behavioral Health Collaborative to give the state’s pediatric and family care physicians the information and tools to better isolate and treat child and youth mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, and ADHD.
Additionally, the program partnered with colleges and medical care facilities to increase the state’s number of Behavioral Health Hubs to nine regional pediatric mental health care teams, including access to telehealth psychiatric services.
The effort reached 400 medical providers and serviced 1,293 clients in the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Its pediatric health line also administered 113 consultations, giving free access to youth and adolescent psychiatrists.
The DOH also sought to address youth and teen drug use with a partnership between the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Law Enforcement, and the Governor’s wife Casey DeSantis called “The Facts. Your Future Youth Drug Prevention Summit” to teach parents about effective communication strategies to discuss drug abuse risks with their children and teens.
Tobacco Free Florida (TFF) is pushing to reduce the use of electronic vaping products among the state’s youth. Between 2019 and 2023, electronic vape consumption decreased by 45 percent among the ages of 11 and 17, according to TFF.
Fighting Cancer
Ms. DeSantis announced the Cancer Connect Collaborative (CCC) in February to expand the existing Florida Cancer Connect. Her effort unites a team of medical professionals to find novel approaches to fighting cancer.The CCC dissolves boundaries within research fields in an attempt to transform the state’s cancer response, bringing together specialists and professionals across all corners of the industry.
As of March 24, 2023, there was no collective population-level data system in the country for recording cancer recurrence among survivors.
In a March news release, Ms. DeSantis explained the importance of monitoring cancer recurrence.
“By having this data reported to the state, this will be a resource to help identify new avenues resulting in better care and treatment standards to help all individuals battling the fight against cancer, regardless of where they are receiving care,” she said.
Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Jason Weida echoed this call for more cancer data in Florida’s quest to beat the disease.
“To enhance cancer research and care in Florida, we must look at existing data and determine where funding will be best spent on research.
“The agency will work with Florida’s cancer centers to ensure that they are collecting and sharing recurrence data to enhance research.
“With this step, Florida is leading the nation in cancer research through our partnerships across state government, academia, health care facilities, practitioners, and insurers,” Mr. Weida said.
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Assistance for Medical Education
Funding from the 2022 legislative session awarded $16 million in student debt relief to more than 1,000 health care professionals through the Florida Reimbursement Assistance for Medical Education (FRAME).The project targets medical professionals in “underserved areas of the state” with student loan debt relief and annual awards to offset educational debts.
These medical professionals include primary care physicians, osteopathic doctors, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, advanced practice registered nurses, autonomous advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants.
The DOH saw an increase of 46 percent in general health care practitioner applications over the past 10 years.
It licensed more than 128,000 new health care professionals during the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year, tracking an average processing time of 0.09 days for each license.
The DOH’s Volunteer Health Care Provider Program gave nearly 500,000 medical and dental services across 217 clinics in 49 of the state’s counties. The value of the services is estimated at $345 million.
