Dear Friends:

Wednesday will be my last day as Secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration. It has been an incredible honor to serve here.

You have seen our Annual Report so you know about the tremendous progress our team has made. We have been on the cutting edge of new survey tools for nursing homes and now ambulatory surgical centers, we have found innovative ways to cope with the demands of rapidly expanding Medicaid rolls and of quickly dwindling revenues, we have won awards for our efforts to promote health care transparency and are driving the adoption of new health information technology. . . We have greatly increased our recoveries from fraudulent providers, completely replaced a computer system that was built in 1989 with a new system designed to enhance our ability to pay over $18 billion in claims annually, invested in technology to allow our providers to get licensed online. . . We have worked to repeal regulation that was unduly burdensome and to toughen penalties where providers were taking advantage of patients. . .

Beyond that we have built an incredible team. The people of AHCA have amazed me with their commitment, intellect and dedication. They work tirelessly for our mission of Better Health Care for all Floridians, and every day they look for ways to improve how we serve the people of Florida.

People across our country are talking about health care at the dinner table and at the water cooler. The debate over health care reform has reminded us all how important our health is. The mission of serving not just the over 2.6 million Medicaid recipients but also the nearly 18 million Floridians who depend on our health care system has never seemed more crucial.

Thank you for all you do to improve our health care system, and thank you for the opportunity to serve the people of Florida. It has been an honor serving with you and with our Governor, Charlie Crist.