Survivors of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando won’t be billed for medical treatment related to the terror attack, two area hospitals said Wednesday.
Orlando Health and Florida Hospital both said they won’t pursue payment from any of the nightclub patrons they treated after a gunman opened fire inside the gay bar on the morning of June 12.
“The pulse shooting was a horrendous tragedy for the victims, their families and our entire community,” Orlando Health President and CEO David Strong told the city’s Sentinel newspaper. “During this very trying time, many organizations, individuals and charities have reached out to Orlando Health to show their support. This is simply our way of paying that kindness forward.”
Orlando Health’s main hospital, the Orlando Regional Medical Center, treated 44 victims in the immediate aftermath of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2011. Florida Hospital treated another dozen, the Sentinel reported.
All told, the two hospitals will write off roughly $5.5 million worth of medical care in lieu of billing the patients, the newspaper reported.
Orlando Health spokeswoman Kena Lewis told the Sentinel that the hospital will bill health insurers for patients who had coverage at the time of the attack, but will take care of any remaining expenses on its own dime.
“We can’t predict the future needs of these patients, their financial situations or what the state or federal governments may require us to do for charity policies,” she said. “While we can’t assume the answer is free care forever, we will use our very generous charity and financial assistance policies to assess the best way” to help.
Florida Hospital said it won’t bill any insurance companies for emergency treatments or any applicable follow-up surgeries, the newspaper reported.
“It was incredible to see how our community came together in the wake of the senseless Pulse shooting,” added Daryl Tol, the president and CEO of Florida Hospital. “We hope this gesture can add to the heart and goodwill that defines Orlando.”
Forty-nine victims were killed and dozens more injured when a gunman opened fire inside the nightclub on the morning of June 12 before he was killed by police officers following a three-hour stand-off.
The shooter, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State terror group during a phone call with authorities in the midst of the rampage.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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