Orlando hospitals to waive $5.5 million in care of nightclub shooting

Two Orlando hospitals will not pursue more than $5.5 million in care expenses incurred by victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in June. Orlando Regional Health Center and Florida Hospital announced they’d be waiving their fees as gestures of goodwill.

Between the two, that means 66 of the patients needing emergency care after the attack won’t need to pay for treatment. The families of the victims who died after arriving at the hospitals also won’t need to worry about the money.

At Orlando Regional Medical Center, insurance providers will pay for their customers according to the normal details of their plans. But the patients won’t be responsible for anything left uncovered and the uninsured patients won’t have to pay anything. Florida Hospital plans to absorb the total cost—they won’t be billing patients’ insurance.

Follow-up treatment for complications related to the shooting will also be covered there, no questions asked. (Orlando Regional Medical Center’s health system spokesperson said the hospital and the patients will cross that bridge when they come to it.)

For some patients, it could mean tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of relief.

Check out the Orlando Sentinel to see how the two hospitals made the decision to freely cover the shooting victims’ bills and what they hope it will mean for the community.