HEALTHCARE OVERVIEW
Jeffrey Welch CEO Florida Medical Center
What lessons have you learned from the pandemic? Hospitals typically prepare for disasters. We’re required to. For example, we prepare for hurricanes. However, typically we don’t experience a year-long disaster. This pandemic has reminded us that we must plan and be prepared for long-term disasters, not just short-term ones. This has taught us to view our resources differently as well. Typically, we’re able to shift teams around to make sure people aren’t becoming demoralized or overwhelmed but here is an event that has gone on seemingly forever. We’ve learned how to manage our staffing, supplies, equipment, PPE, tests and vaccines and their distribution. We are much better prepared for future disasters and to fight the current one. awarded in 2019, Registered Nursing and Medical Assistant were listed as second and third-most common and Registered Nursing the most common bachelor’s degree awarded in the county. Physician Assistant degrees were the second-most common master’s degrees awarded, and Osteopathic Medicine was the third-most common Ph.D. degree awarded. In the Greater Fort Lauderdale region, two of the Top 3 concentrations are in healthcare: medical assistant and registered nursing. This is significant for the future of the healthcare sector in Broward County and elsewhere as a shortage of health personnel, nurses in particular, is already an issue that is projected to worsen. Hospitals are working now to ensure replacements in the future. “The retirement of nurses coming up may be a bigger problem than the influx of patients we’re going to get. But we have seen a good influx of nurses. Memorial has created a nurse residency program, from which we have a steady inflow of new nurses,” Joe Stuczynski, CEO of Memorial Hospital Pembroke, told Invest: Policy While Florida’s relatively conservative political
What efforts have been made to support the mental health of your staff? During the pandemic, I reached out to our corporate office and asked for a person to come here and provide mental health services to our workers. It provides an outlet for people. We did this quite a bit and we didn’t think about this nearly as much before the pandemic. Our staff was very stressed and overworked, which can cause a lot of health issues. Even after COVID subsides, we should remember to bring in specialized services that can help our employees get through tough times. How difficult is it finding talent in the current climate? We have a very aggressive program for recruiting top talent. It’s easier to recruit people for Florida, even when they’re across the country, because of the great lifestyle Florida has to offer. We only look for the best candidates. We have had no issues in recruiting young, good physicians, especially since Florida Medical Center is well-recognized and has so many great programs. Our cardiac, robotic, vascular and neurosurgical programs, to name a few, are all centers of excellence. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com
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