Sen. Jim Boyd bill aimed at bolstering mental health care passes committee
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A bill passed unanimously through its first Florida Senate committee stop that will create a new statutory designation for behavioral health teaching hospitals, aiming to bolster mental health care in the state.
The bill also “encourages robust partnerships between hospitals and universities,” Boyd’s office said.
SB 330 is being carried by Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, and an identical bill, HB 1617 is being carried in the House by Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island. The Senate version has one more committee stop and the House version has three more stops.
Boyd said the bill “strengthens our workforce of behavioral health professionals with the creation of scholarships and educational opportunities.”
He said the state can become the “national model for health care” through “innovation and state-of-the-art behavioral research.”
The bill’s analysis said it also establishes the Florida Center for Behavioral Health Workforce to “analyze issues of workforce supply and demand in behavioral health professions in the state.”
It will also create the Florida Behavioral Health Professions Scholarship and Grants program to provide scholarships to students.
Behavioral health teaching hospitals will be able to receive funding under the Training, Education and Clinicals in Health program. The program was part of SB 7016, which passed last month.
The bill names specific medical school and hospital partnerships for its three-year pilot program.
The locations include USF Morsani College of Medicine and Tampa General Hospital, UF School of Medicine and UF Health Shands in Gainesville, UF School of Medicine and UF Health Shands in Jacksonville and UM Miller School of Medicine and Jackson Memorial Hospital.
The bill also requires a study to “evaluate behavioral health workforce issues, bed capacity for forensic and civil commitment, and costs related to integrating those beds into behavioral teaching hospitals.”
If passed, the bill takes effect July 1.
