Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board (HCAB)

On Thursday, November 20, 2008, I attended a public meeting held by the Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board (HCAB) at the Lee Davis Neighborhood Service Center. Before attending the meeting, I was not sure what the meeting would be about. I was not even sure what exactly the Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board did or what duties they performed in order to better the community. I knew that this particular advisory board had to have something to do with the healthcare system, but I did not know what tasks they performed or why they even held so many frequent public meetings. However, after attending the meeting, I gained a better understanding of the Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board. Even though the meeting was primarily held to approve priorities for next year’s advisory group, I learned a lot about the duties of the board itself.

I spoke with public official Wanda West in order to gain more knowledge about this important local advisory board.

“Hillsborough County has a health care program to provide health services to the low income population,” said West. “The Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board is here to give advice on the management and oversight of the program.”

She expanded upon this statement, and talked about how Hillsborough County has so many lower income families who can not afford health care. The advisory board’s goal is to improve accessibility and efficiency of care for poor Hillsborough County residents. They plan to do this by giving recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners for fund allocation, coordination and planning of health care delivery systems.

There are many people who need help and need a way in order to be able to have health care just like everybody else. Healthcare is such a necessity, and an alarming number of families in Hillsborough County do not have it because their income is too low. They just can not afford it. They prioritize and put other life necessities first before choosing to pay for a healthcare plan.

The Hillsborough County Health Care Advisory Board holds public meetings often in order to discuss certain issues pertaining to the low income health care plan. The meeting I attended opened my eyes as to how hard it is for many families to acquire health care, and how much of a difference local boards like this one make in order to help out the community in need. The issue of health care is so important to discuss and plan, and I was happy to find that my home county is doing their part in helping less fortunate people.