Fun program at the
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 39
$2
SEPTEMBER 27 - OCTOBER 3, 2024
Pg B3
Marion County continues to get bad health grades. But who is at the helm to fix?
Jail footage shows inmate complied with orders before fatal use of force A lawsuit against the Marion County Sheriff’s Office has allowed the “Ocala Gazette” to view the Marion County Jail video.
File photo: Numerous agencies including Ocala Fire Rescue and Marion County Fire Rescue and the Ocala Police Department responded to the scene of a large explosion at the Classic Laundromat store on Northeast 25th Avenue in Ocala on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.
Since 2005, the state’s life expectancy rate dropped by 1.2 years while Marion County’s rate dropped by more than 4.1 years. By Jennifer Hunt Murty jennifer@ocalagazette.com
S
ince 2005, life expectancy has fallen steadily for Marion County residents. According to the data from the Florida Department of Health, life expectancy for the three-year span of 2005-2007 in the state was 79.2, but in Marion County it was 77.8 overall. It was 74.5 if you were a Marion County male and 81.1 if you were female. Marion Hispanics had a higher life expectancy at 81.9; nonHispanics 77.6, white 77.8, Black 76.3. Fast forward to the last three-year data set released, for 2020-2022, and you find that the state’s life expectancy rate had only dropped 1.2 years but Marion County had dropped more than 4 years to 73.7. Statistics like these may show living in Marion County to be bad for your health. Recent data from the Florida DOH reflected Marion County males having a life expectancy of 70.4 and females 77.1. Marion Hispanics are still outliving the rest, with a life expectancy of 76.8. whites 73.6, Black 72.7, and non-Hispanics 73.2 Our leading causes of death are like the rest of the state’s—heart disease and cancer. However, the third highest cause of death in Marion County is unintentional injury. And it’s at a remarkable rate. Florida DOH data shows Marion County’s rate of unintentional death in 2022 was greater than that of every other county in the state except for Glade and Lafayette counties, whose populations combined make up less than 30,000 residents. The DOH defines unintentional death as “injury not intended as self-harm or as
intentional harm to another person.” When you look at the 10-year trends in unintentional deaths for Marion County, they grew from 75.2 (for every 100,000 population) in 2015, to 91.6 in 2019, and to 124.5 in 2022. In 2022, according to the last reported DOH data, the age-adjusted rate per 100,000 population of deaths from motor vehicle crashes, which includes pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and three-wheeled vehicles, in Marion County was 27.7 compared to Florida at 15.8.
Analysis
Thanks to data collected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments, it’s easy to get a glimpse of each community’s health grades so communities can make decisions to improve them. The question is, Who is responsible for implementing policy and finding the resources to improve the health grades? The answer in this community equals a lot of different siloed organizations, but there seems to be no single local organization making strides toward significant improvement. The Florida Department of Health in Marion County, or DOH-Marion, issues its health assessments based on data and meetings with stakeholders. Then there’s the Marion County Hospital District, now in its 10th year, who’s currently reassessing health needs to define what health incentives it will continue to support. The trustees’ two roundtable workshops with one consultant have been informal with no reporting supplied to the trustees from
the consultant regarding needs, other than what has been shared during meetings, according to the district’s attorney Robert Batsel following the last workshop. The “Gazette” has been recording the workshops so the public can gauge their effectiveness, and we will follow up with a report when the direction becomes clear. The Marion County Public Policy Institute did a health needs assessment of Marion County in the summer of 2007. At the time, they recommended that a lead agency be formed to address findings such as shortages of medical providers, lack of insurance, transportation for patients to care, and the timeliness of emergency services. Since that 2007 report, a few good things have happened, and a few not so good things have happened. We are going to point out some of both.
Good news
In 2010, The Affordable Care Act was passed. The Florida Department of Financial Services summarized how it impacted Florida residents this way: “The law puts in place a significant number of health insurance reforms that have rolled out since 2010.” “Starting January 1, 2014, you will no longer be declined coverage or charged extra for health insurance because of a health issue you have now or have had in the past. You will also be guaranteed a minimum set of health benefits known as ‘Essential Health Benefits.’” The website also said the law included assistance for individuals and families to purchase health insurance. See Failing, page A3
Scott Whitley was being held in solitary confinement in the Alpha Pod of the Marion County Jail, where he was killed after nine involved deputies deployed Tasers 27 times and used pepper foam and physical force to subdue him. [Source Florida Department of Law Enforcement]
By Caroline Brauchler caroline@ocalagazette.com
F
ootage obtained through the “Ocala Gazette’s” lawsuit against the Marion County Sheriff ’s Office showed that inmate Scott Whitley exhibited no physical violence toward Marion County Jail detention deputies before he was rushed to the floor, restrained and hit with a Taser 27 times over 12 minutes. Whitley died in custody on Nov. 25, 2022. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. “Gazette” staffers were allowed to view the footage on Sept. 23, but not to obtain a copy or publish the video footage. Contrary to initial reports from the sheriff ’s office that claimed Whitley refused to comply with guards’ orders, the footage shows the inmate sitting as ordered and, when he sees the guards rush towards him, he raises his hands in defense and pleads “no” and “wait”—to no avail. Whitley showed no physical violence toward jail staff at the time of the incident, only minutes earlier verbally refused to comply with deputies’ orders to be handcuffed at the door for a cell inspection that the sheriff ’s office described as “routine.” Whitley, a diagnosed schizophrenic, was being held in solitary confinement and was not allowed any clothing or bedding, a precaution often taken out of concern that those items could be used by an inmate to harm themselves or others or to attempt escape. Whitley was unmedicated for his mental disorder at the time. Based on an evidentiary hearing See Mentally, page A9
READ DAILY NEWS AT OCALAGAZETTE.COM
INSIDE:
MCSO Deputy Charged.............. A4 Swimming Lesson Voucher Program.... A6 IHMC.............................................. B1 Calendar......................................... B5 Sports.............................................. B8
Subscribers will receive their paper through USPS on the USPS schedule. Subscription orders must be received by 5 pm on Tuesday in order to be included in the following week’s delivery. Starting at $10/month ocalagazette.com/subscribe