UF Health Shands CEO Ed Jimenez has been elected to chair the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida’s board of directors. The group advocates for the state’s 14 flagship safety net hospital systems, which provide the most advanced critical care to patients regardless of their ability to pay.

Jimenez will serve a two-year term on the 14-member board, composed of CEOs from teaching, public, children’s and regional perinatal intensive care hospitals. SNHAF hospitals provide specialized care to uninsured, underinsured and Medicaid patients. They also train the next generation of physicians and nurses, conduct leading-edge research that leads to important medical advances and provide lifesaving services such as organ transplantation, intensive burn treatment and the highest level trauma care.

“I am especially proud to be a part of the team that advocates for the resources that provide health care services to our neediest residents. Safety net hospitals depend on state and federal funding, so the Hospital Alliance’s role is crucial,” Jimenez said.

SNHAF hospitals are public or not-for-profit, mission-driven facilities that put patients before profits. Funds from reimbursed services are reinvested locally in health services, facilities, equipment, innovation and jobs. As a large and diversified academic health center that operates teaching and safety net hospitals in Gainesville and Jacksonville, UF Health has a broad range of expertise and specialized programs, including the UF Health Shands Burn Center, the UF Health Shands Transplant Center, two Level 1 trauma centers and two neonatal ICUs. UF Health also runs a robust physician residency program that trains the state’s future health care providers.