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Volume 18 • Issue 3 • $5.00 September 2021

THE REGION’S MONTHLY NEWSPAPER FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS & PHYSICIANS
OUR 18TH YEAR SERVING THE HEALTHCARE COMMUNITY!

COVID-19 Danna-Gracey to Expand COVID-19

Coverages, Access to Specialists

Through Risk Strategies Merger

BY VANESSA ORR

For the past 20 years, Danna-Gracey, the largest inde-
pendent medical malpractice insurance agency in
Florida, has dedicated itself to providing insurance cov-
erage placement for doctors and other health care
providers. As a result of its recent merger with Risk
Strategies, a leading national specialty insurance broker-
age and risk management firm, the company now gains
a nationwide platform through which its experts can
Carlos Migoya Wayne Brackin
provide medical professional liability coverage for physi-
cians, surgeons, nurses and other health care profession-
Jackson Health als, as well as hospitals, ASCs, facilities, and long-term Matt Gracey Is COVID-19
care, in addition to personal and commercial lines as well
System Mandates as employee benefits. Different than
“My team and I are really excited about the merger, because it enables us to offer a
vast array of solutions for the more complex risks that medical practices are encoun-
COVID-19 tering as they grow,” said Matt Gracey, president, Danna-Gracey. “Most medical prac- Smallpox or
tices are expanding—some quite quickly—and we felt that to keep up with our
Vaccines for Staff clients and our prospects, we needed more horsepower on our side.” Polio?
Business Insurance News ranked Risk Strategies, based out of Boston, MA, as the
16th largest U.S. broker and 6th fastest growing firm on its Top Insurance Brokers It Shouldn’t Be.
BY DANIEL CASCIATO Continued on page 9

On August 23, Jackson Health System BY WAYNE BRACKIN
began new COVID-19 vaccine rules for Alzheimer’s Care
all employees, physicians, students, and If you are over 40, we likely have
on-site vendors, with several restrictions Patients With Alzheimer’s/Dementia something in common, namely a small,
for anyone who isn’t vaccinated. faded scar on our upper arm, a relic of
“We were looking at the numbers the war on smallpox. Our children
growing and the challenges that we Can Age in Place With Hospice Care haven’t had to face this menace because
had—which are different from last year we grew up in a society that trusted sci-
where we didn't have the vaccine as an ence and our leaders to guide us toward
option,” explains Jackson CEO Carlos BY ILEANA LEYVA, MD the elimination of crippling diseases.
Migoya. “We felt that everybody has civil There were lamentable exceptions such
rights, including patients, in the health- When clinicians and family caregivers recognize ongo- as the Tuskegee Study. And yet, many
care business. But we have to live to a ing signs of decline in a patient or loved one with childhood diseases including measles,
different and higher standard, because Alzheimer’s disease/dementia, they often arrive at a diffi- diphtheria and rubella were eradicated.
the number one thing that we have to do cult decision point: Should we place Mom or Dad in a Even polio’s twisted limbs are part of the
is protect our patients, and having our nursing home or memory care facility, and how will we past, not our future.
employees vaccinated is important for us know it’s time? Today, we relive the tragic scenes of a
to protect our patients.” To those of us who specialize in hospice and palliative surge, the anguish and the exhaustion of
As an incentive, eligible employees care, the questions should be expanded to: healthcare workers. Both adult and
who are fully vaccinated by September • When are patients with Alzheimer’s/dementia eligi- pediatric cases are at an alarmingly high
30th, will receive a $150 one-time ble for hospice care? volume, and infants with COVID-19 are
bonus. • What kind of care will cause the least amount of dis- Dr. Ileana Leyva filling our NICUs. Too many of us have
“People who got vaccinated last ruption to a patient who struggles to make sense of what’s been influenced by the unending bom-
December would also get the $150 happening in their world? bardment of health misinformation on
bonus,” says Migoya. “I believe that this • What kind of care honors the wishes of an Alzheimer’s patient who prefers to be the internet. The Surgeon General of the
bonus is a good motivator to get others cared for and die at home? United States, Vivek Murthy, M.D., had
vaccinated.” to issue a report titled “Confronting
These are the restrictions that unvacci- Hospice supports aging in place Health Misinformation.” Given this real-
nated employees face: “Aging in place” is a well-accepted concept in the long-term and residential-care ity, I find that a core of people in every
• An N95 respirator mask must be industry. Hospice accommodates aging in place through supportive care teams who organization are in decision paralysis
worn at all times inside of all Jackson deliver expert end-of-life care, equipment, medications, and supplies to patients and about the COVID-19 vaccine. Among
facilities, including clinical buildings their families. the oft-repeated comments are these, “If
and non-clinical areas, such as Jackson Patients with Alzheimer’s/dementia can receive hospice care from specially trained my job requires it, as they do the flu
teams in the places they already call home: their own homes, nursing homes, assisted
Continued on page 26 Continued on page 17 Continued on page 8