My name is Jen Hayes, Director of Revenue Cycle Integrity at Lexington Medical Center in Columbia, South Carolina and the Incoming President 2023-2024 of the South Carolina Chapter of HFMA. I have always been amazed by our underwater life and have always been captivated by sea turtles. Sea turtles have an allure about them with their slow and steady pace and it reminds me that sometimes we just need to slow down. We live in a fast-paced world, and we often forgot to take a breather and enjoy life. Sea turtles are vital to our ecosystem but are classified as endangered because of changes brought on by humans.

There are many threats to sea turtles - fisheries, pollution, costal development, direct takes, and climate change. If we continue to alter the beaches and marine system, it will ultimately have harmful effects on humans. Sea turtles play an important role in maintaining the food web balance. Green sea turtles eat the seagrass increase nutrients and keep the seagrass beds healthy. The Hawksbill Sea turtle eats sea sponges which can aggressively overtake building space for corals. Nesting sea turtles supply nutrients to the sand dune ecosystem that are left behind in the eggshells and embryonic fluid. Leatherback sea turtles eat jellyfish, without the Leatherback, there would be a decline in fish stock.

What can we do?

On a visit to the South Carolina Aquarium, I learned more about what they are doing to support sea turtle rehabilitation. Sea turtles that are found sick or injured along South Carolina's coast are brought to the Aquarium's Sea Turtle Care Center. Their team of biologists and veterinarians diagnose, provide treatment, and care for the sea turtles until they can be released back into the wild. To date, 379 sea turtles have been rehabilitated and released. The generous support of donors makes this work possible. Please join me in making a financial contribution to support the Aquarium's work so we can help ensure that sea turtles continue to thrive in our oceans.