Jackson Memorial asking for donations for new emergency room
MIAMI - The largest hospital in the United States is making a plea to the South Florida community.
They are asking for donations to fund major projects that will help the public health system at a time when money is tight.
CBS News Miami was at Jackson Memorial Hospital to find out what they are looking for.
"It's the first time we've done it and really asking the community to do anything from a dollar to $5 to $100," says Flavia Llizo, Co-President of Jackson Health Foundation.
One Day for Jackson is a one-day event to fund the hospital system's future.
Most of the money raised will go towards what they say is its biggest project, a new $300 million emergency room.
President and CEO of Jackson Health Systems Carlos Migoya says it'll be the largest in the country.
"This whole area that we're at is growing tremendously between Wynwood downtown there's a lot of residents there's about 80,000 a day so there's a huge need for an emergency room," says Migoya.
Jackson Health is a not-for-profit health system and it's not immune from a tough economy.
As recently as 2022, Migoya told CBS News Miami their profit margins are around 2% with around 13% of their patients not able to pay.
Last year, Jackson had to return $122 million to Florida. The University of South Florida's health publication reports it came after the hospital received money that was meant to reimburse hospitals for treating impoverished residents.
Jackson Memorial self-reported the errors after finding them during an audit conducted by the U.S. Justice Department.
"Jackson is going through the same financial stress that every other healthcare system is going through as we all know with inflation costs have gone up dramatically and the revenues are flat."
"No one is paying any more for the same care. So, margins are tight, and when you're a public hospital you have very, very tiny margins so we need to look every day at how we can be more efficient in what we do and provide the best care at the most efficient prices," said Migoya.
This charity event will be the first of many, they said.
