Suncoast Health Council, Inc.

9600 Koger Boulevard
Suite #221
St. Petersburg, Florida 33702  
(727)217-7070
    
www.healthcouncils.org

Mission:
We make health care better.

Executive Summary:
The Suncoast Health Council, Inc. is a non-profit community health planning organization located in St. Petersburg, Florida.  The Health Council is one of 11 health planning entities created by the Florida Legislature to identify, address and resolve health care issues of local concern.  The Health Council works independently to expand access, affordability and quality of health care services within a designated planning district (Pinellas and Pasco counties), and collaborates with its sister affiliates in other areas to resolve health care issues that transcend district boundaries.  Within the planning district, the Health Council collects and analyzes health care data, identifies system deficiencies, and develops planning strategies and new program initiatives to increase the effectiveness of local health care services.  The Health Council designs new program initiatives based on input from local residents, especially health care consumers who face significant challenges in accessing timely and appropriate preventive health care services (e.g., the indigent, the homeless, and the chronically ill including People Living with HIV/AIDS).  The process used by the Health Council to solicit and prioritize community input has been recognized as an innovative community health planning tool by the American Public Health Association (APHA).

The Health Council administers a number of innovative health care programs, including a Compassionate Drug Patient Assistance Program which secures access to free prescription drugs for indigent and medically underserved residents in Pinellas and Pasco counties.  Other programs administered by the Health Council include an Insurance Services Program that provides continuity of health insurance coverage and prescription drug access for People Living with HIV/AIDS.  The Health Council also provides professional planning support to the Ryan White Care Council, which plans for HIV/AIDS service needs in the Tampa Bay and West Central areas of Florida.