Citizen & Community Advocates for Best-In-Class Hospital Operator
Our Initiatives
and Q&A
Initiative #1​
It's time we talk about the elephant in the room.
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Access to healthcare in Key West can be a significant challenge. As a Public Hospital, our current agreement with Community Health Systems (CHS) drafted nearly 30 years ago has no performance standards or contractual requirements for healthcare services, and no minimum percentage of profit which is required to remain invested into the community. This was a significant oversight, and as locals we've been enduring the consequences since.
Notably, LKMC is a highly profitable operation, reporting an average of $25 Million annually to AHCA on average over the past ten years, and at a percentage of profit this is significantly higher than the national average. How much of the $25 Million per year average hospital Net Income is being reinvested back into our community, matters. One potential suitor, Mount Sinai, has committed to leaving all Net Operating Income from the hospital within the Keys, a considerable opportunity for expanded services and our local healthcare personnel.
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Initiative #2
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To bring local citizens, healthcare personnel stakeholders, expert legal and consulting, and the Hospital District Board together to assist in finalizing an RFP and attaining a hospital operator which would provide our community, including our local healthcare personnel, with the best possible hospital for our community.
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To stay informed or become one of our Citizen Advocates, please let us know here!
Q&A
Sometimes we have more questions than answers, and that's okay.
It's a process.
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Updated January 6th, 2026
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As of January 6th, 2026 the goal is to complete a draft RFP (Request for Proposal) as soon as a facility assessment can be completed, an estimated 60 days. RFP counsel, and consultants, are now in place to assist the District Board with the RFP process efforts.
Hospital Operators interested in attaining our next (presumably next 30 year lease) include existing Hospital Operator CHS, as well as Mount Sinai, Baptist and possibly others.
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Should our community, through the Lower Florida Keys Hospital District Board, seek competitive and alternative Hospital Operators given the current Hospital Group (CHS) lease ends April 2029?
For us, this was an obvious, yes. And this answer is what started Our Hospital Key West in early 2024. While there was initial reluctance by some to keep the status quo Hospital Operator, we're pleased that as of this update the Hospital District Board is now seeking a competitive process (through a Request for Proposal, or RFP) which provides criteria and guideline for other hospitals to bid on our next sole community hospital lease.
Should our Hospital District Board seek (a) specialty legal firm and (b) specialty consulting firm to guide them through the process of a competitive bid process for our hospital?
For us, another BIG YES to both. Our Hospital District Board members are volunteer fiduciaries, and currently meet once monthly. Navigating an RFP is an incredibly intense and unique process given it's a public hospital and there are endless community healthcare considerations. Because our Hospital District Commissioners are fiduciaries to us, our perspective is they simply cannot rely on their own personal judgement or experience as a basis of objectivity to meet their roles as fiduciaries without both specialty legal and specialty consulting guidance.
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As of this update, the Board has hired Akerman LLP (a well regarded law firm) for legal expertise of the process, has voted to engage Stroudwater Consultants (a well regarded healthcare consulting firm), and ISES, a firm to perform an assessment of the current condition of LKMC College Road facility. See our News & Updates section to review these proposals.
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Do we need a new Hospital facility? Is our current Hospital suitable for the next 30 years? Wouldn't it be more practical to build a new Hospital as opposed to requiring a new lessee to invest in a facility which is likely unsuitable for the next generation, or in disrepair?
We hear these questions frequently, and they're each worth considering. We don't have an answer or a recommendation to these questions because the answers require a detailed analysis of each consideration for a reasonable conclusion. With the inspection / assessment of the College Road facility underway (voted on January 6th, 2026), this may provide some answers. A new facility is however, being contemplated officially, and language to this consideration is in the current Draft RFP (January 6th), which can be read in our News & Updates section.
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To stay informed or become one of our Citizen Advocates, please let us know here!
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If you're a Lower Florida Keys resident, including from Big Pine to Key West, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR RESIDENT SURVEY! Your name will remain confidential, and the data will be shared with the community and participants drafting and authorizing the RFP and lease process.
