List date(s) this work was published or aired.
March 13, 2011; May 15, 2011; July 10, 2011; Oct. 11, 2011
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
March 13, 2011: Before taking office with an agenda of privatizing Medicaid and public hospitals and clinics, incoming Florida Gov. Rick Scott took steps to avoid a conflict with state ethics laws. He quietly transferred the ownership of his urgent care chain — to his wife. May 15, 2011: The Four Million Dollar Question: Why did health district turn down free land to pay its own Realtor for his? A local health agency pays millions for a 7-acre triangle of commercial land for a public nursing home, even though free public land had been offered. A Palm Beach Post investigation reveals that the seller was the agency’s own real estate agent, a developer who had longstanding family ties to several board members. July 10, 2011: Scott driven for clinic dollars A physician’s view of what “retail medicine” meant at Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s Solantic urgent care chain. Oct. 9, 2011 Watchdog’s dismissal investigated: New officer fired after her review of possible conflicts of interest A health care compliance officer responsible for watching for fraud, waste and abuse is fired after launching her first investigation. At issue: The security of internal email archives.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Florida enjoys a broad public records law which dictates that everything kept by government is a public record unless specifically exempted. For the stories on the Palm Beach County Health Care District, I made extensive public records requests. I reviewed meeting minutes, contracts, email correspondence, written correspondence and personnel files. For my coverage of Florida Gov. Rick Scott, I closely read state ethics laws and relied on investigative files held by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which become public record once an investigation is deemed officially closed. Initially the agency did not give me the full file; I had to press several times. The full file contained interview notes with one of Gov. Rick Scott’s former physician employees, in addition to other critical information, such as correspondence with the HHS Inspector General’s Florida-based staff.
Explain types of human sources used.
I began my reporting on the Solantic urgent care chain with several extensive interviews with the company’s CEO, as well as lower-level managers. Also, since Florida’s Ethics Commission created no public records of its meeting with Gov. Rick Scott’s lawyers, I interviewed staff there multiple times, pressing them for more detail each time. On the Palm Beach County Health Care District stories, the initial stories relied on public records to demonstrate that public officials had not been forthcoming. The fired compliance officer was willing to sit down and discuss her concerns, but only after I had seen her personnel file and seen the case assembled to justify her firing.
Results:
In April, a month after my first story on the transfer of his urgent care chain ownership to his wife, Florida Gov. Rick Scott saw his approval rating fall to 29 percent, the lowest of any governor in the nation. He sold his shares and changed course on privatizing public health clinics. The Palm Beach County Health Care District, meanwhile, facing public outcry, agreed to submit to independent oversight from the county’s inspector general. Its chairman also resigned.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
The chairman of the Health Care District, Jonathan Satter, still maintains he was not involved in the selection of the nursing home site, a perspective that was included as part of the original story.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
A thorough knowledge of your state’s public records and ethics laws is the key to successfully covering any agency that handles health dollars.