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Old 02-15-2011, 07:07 AM
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redwitch redwitch is offline
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I wish I could say this surprises me, but it doesn't. It really is more or less what I expected to hear. When I first heard that Moffitt Center was coming here, that the Morses were donating the land and building, I was thrilled. Then I heard about the Leesburg Moffitt and it quickly became apparent to me that Moffit in TV was only about the status of having it here, not any real need. Moffitt got an offer they couldn't refuse is what I thought. Now, I'm not even sure of that. Since Moffitt will have to pay rent and won't own the equipment, what in heck are they getting out of this deal? Why would they want two centers so close together? Just doesn't make sense.

So, the Morses' clay feet are showing. They get a nice tax writeoff; rent paid for the land and building they "donated;" probably a lease for the equipment they are getting with donations (be interesting to get the facts on this aspect, if at all possible). We get a cancer center -- one that is duplicative of one less than 20 miles from TV. We do not necessarily get the physicians and staff of Moffitt -- we get ones "trained" by Moffitt but that's not really the same thing. We or our insurance companies get to pay for the treatment -- it is not free or at a reduced cost. We lost the Relay. Other charities suffer by having to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Moffitt charity. Sounds like a very sweet deal for the Morses. I am beginning to wonder what makes it work for Moffitt.

Somewhere, somehow, we are missing some facts. I'm just not sure how we find them out. So, I guess we need to research if there is a Moffitt/Morse entity. What benefits Moffitt does get by building two centers so close together. What inducements were made/given to have them agree to come to TV after committing to Leesburg? It might be interesting to know the deal Leesburg made with Moffitt just for comparison. Anyone have any clues how we can find out some of these things?
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