Dorian

The Florida Hospital Association (FHA) provides a strong, effective voice for Florida’s hospital community, advocating to improve access to affordable, quality health care for all Floridians.

FHA serves as the Florida Department of Health’s organizational lead for hospital response in times of disasters and in preparing for any public health emergency. FHA’s emergency response team staffs the state emergency operations center to deliver real-time response to impacted hospitals. FHA coordinates the safe movement and placement of patients and serves as a communication hub for critical information to members while working with our federal and state partners to ensure Florida’s hospitals have the resources they need in time of crisis.

FHA Staff Contact Information

View FHA staff cell phone numbers

Emergency Resources

Waivers

CMS will be temporarily waiving or modifying certain Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP requirements. CMS will also issue a number of blanket waivers, listed on the website below and the CMS Regional Office will grant other provider-specific requests for specific types of hospitals and other facilities in Florida. These waivers work to provide continued access to care for beneficiaries. For more information on the waivers CMS has granted, visit: www.cms.gov/emergency.

View the CMS 1135 Waiver Letter
View the CMS Skilled Nursing Facility Waiver Letter
Florida Prescription Refill Waiver Information

Florida Department of Health

Dr. Rivkees, Florida State Surgeon General, disseminated information for use by essential health care personnel when traveling outside of established curfew times. View letter online.

Agency for Health Care Administration Alerts

Pursuant to Section 408.821(4) Florida Statute, the Agency for Health Care Administration in partnership with the Florida Department of Health is requesting all health care providers to report their statuses for Hurricane Dorian regarding census, available beds, evacuation status, and generator status information by 10:00 AM EST daily and when your situation changes until further notice into the Emergency Status System (ESS).

It is imperative Florida Medicaid recipients maintain access to critical Medicaid services that are life sustaining (examples include: durable medical equipment and supplies, home health services, hospital services, nursing facility services, chemotherapy, dialysis services, etc.) (herein referred to as critical Medicaid services) during the disaster period. To this end, the Agency will ensure reimbursement for critical Medicaid services that are provided in good faith to eligible recipients who reside in the counties impacted by Hurricane Dorian. The Agency will waive all prior authorization requirements for critical Medicaid services beginning August 28, 2019 until further notice. Early prescription refill edits have been lifted for all maintenance medications (this does not apply to controlled substances). Additional information for providers is located on the Agency website, click the Hurricane banner at the top of the page for more information.

Staffing Resources

Contact Martha DeCastro, vice president for nursing and clinical care policy, at (850) 210-3813.