The general surgery residency program at Halifax Health will be losing its accreditation as of July 2016, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education notified the hospital of its withdrawal of its accreditation in November, citing weaknesses in the program’s research and curriculum components. However, according to the News-Journal, Halifax officials say the hospital plans to reapply for accreditation.
Meanwhile, Humana signed an agreement with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation last month agreeing to reduce costs for HIV drugs for all of the 2015 plans sold on the federal marketplace, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Prior to this agreement, Humana and other insurers had been accused by advocacy groups of charging too much for the medication, the Times reports.
Also, in the past two weeks, several health care practitioners across the state have faced punishment for various incidents:
- A Dade City doctor has been accused of drugging and assaulting two female patients and a female medical student, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The state order issued in late December says Dr. Daniel P. Bath is currently not allowed to treat female patients, and further disciplinary actions are being launched by the state, according to the Times.
- In a separate incident, a former therapist in Pinellas County admitted to having sexual relations with one of his patients and stealing from another, the Tampa Bay Times reports. According to the Times, Richard Walter Fedora pleaded guilty on dec. 22 to felony charges of sexual misconduct by a psychotherapist as well as grand theft and has been sentenced to six months in the county jail plus six months of probation.
- Additionally, a pediatric emergency room physician formerly employed by Miami Children’s Hospital is now facing felony charges in the alleged assault of a 15-year-old boy while he was on vacation in North Carolina, the Miami Herald reports. According to the Herald, Robert Kemp Crocket III is facing charges of indecent liberties with a child, second-degree sexual offense, and statutory rape and has been released on $50,000 bond.