Health News Florida

The hepatitis C test requires a simple finger prick to draw blood.

Their Only Option

Every day, hundreds of sick and injured patients walk into free and charitable clinics around the Tampa Bay area in need of a doctor.Many are suffering from chronic conditions, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Some patients were referred to the clinics by staff at hospitals where they landed after years of neglecting to care for treatable conditions.The clinics allow the patients to pay what they can, or nothing at all. They are staffed by doctors and nurses who volunteer their time. They survive off donations and small grants.Many of the patients have jobs but they are living paycheck to paycheck. None have health insurance, either because they do not qualify for Medicaid or can’t afford private coverage. For these patients, the clinics are often their only option for primary care.

To Prevent Suicide, Northeast Florida Fire Watch Will Connect Veterans To Each Other

WJCT News | By Cyd Hoskinson

Published November 8, 2019 at 4:14 PM EST

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry (center) and representatives from St. Johns, Baker, Nassau, and Clay counties sign the Fire Watch legislation Nov. 6 at City Hall. — Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

The City of Jacksonville is joining with four other Northeast Florida counties to try to safeguard military veterans against suicide.

Federal statistics show at least 20 veterans are killing themselves every day, which is what drove the creation of a program called Fire Watch.

Jacksonville City Councilman Rory Diamond pushed for it to be implemented. He is also CEO of K9s for Warriors, a Ponte Vedra-based nonprofit that provides service dogs to veterans with PTSD.

He said, “In the Army and the Marines, the Fire Watch means the person who’s holding the shift at night to keep an eye on their battle buddies and to make sure that if danger comes, they alert everyone. That’s what we’re doing here — keeping an eye out, keeping watch.”

Diamond said Fire Watch will be a peer-to-peer network of thousands of veterans who’ve pledged to keep each other safe.

“If we’ve learned anything about veteran suicide prevention it’s that the difference between life and death is often just having one person in the world who you care about and who cares about you and who will be there when it’s the darkest. And that’s what we want to do — create those relationships so that everybody has someone,” he said.

Duval, Baker, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties have all signed on to Fire Watch. The regional program is still being developed.

To Prevent Suicide, Northeast Florida Fire Watch Will Connect Veterans To Each Other

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