We started Health Care Day at St. Joseph’s Hospital North (BayCare Health System) to hear presentations on mental health. The President and CEO of Tampa Bay Thrives, Carrie Zeisse, presented on the unique model of her organization that pulls together several key stakeholders, private and public, from the community to focus on three key areas: navigating the system, providing access to mental health services for those in crisis, and awareness.
The group also heard from Gail Ryder, BayCare’s VP of Behavioral Health. Gail’s presentation took us through the history of mental health and treatment since the beginning. She also provided leaders with a state of mental health and the significant impact the COVID pandemic has had on our community, specifically adolescents, and the health care workforce. I especially valued that she left the leaders in the room with a powerful request – to say something positive about ourselves. A powerful exercise that would undoubtedly provide a positive impact to those that we work alongside every day.
We were also able to tour the hospital’s new Psychiatric/Medical unit that will provide a safe space for patients that are suffering from mental illness but also require medical care.
Our next stop was Tampa General Hospital (TGH). We kicked off our visit with a message from John Couris, the CEO of TGH. John shared a lot about the vision of TGH’s future and how he works closely with his C-suite and team members to align with the mission. Highlights from John’s presentation was his leadership model, Aktiv Leadership, and how he frequently collaborates with the other hospital and healthcare partners in the area.
During our visit, we toured the CareComm, a state-of-the-art platform that uses artificial intelligence and data to streamline bed capacity operations but also alerts the medical team to patients that may be of high risk of sepsis, a life threatening and potentially fatal infection. Dr. Peter Chang, VP of Health Care Design at TGH, presented on an innovative care model called “Hospital at Home.” This model allows for patients to receive hospital level care at their own home with use of remote patient monitoring (demonstrated by Dr. Chang) and daily in person visits from medical providers. The goal of this program is to better enhance the experience and outcome of the patient. Currently, only one other health systems in Florida, Mayo Clinic, offers Hospital at Home.
Our class was also able to visit the TGH Helipad. Here, we met with the flight team and received an upfront look at the helicopters used to quickly transport patients to the right point of care.
The beautiful campus of University of Tampa was the next stop of the day – we were able to see the simulation lab in the Graduate and Health Studies Building that is training our next generation of nurses and physician assistants. Dr. Marisa Belote, Simulation Director and Associate Professor, provided great insight and demonstrations on how simulation mannequins are used to educate students – one of my classmates delivered a baby! The cost of these mannequins is significant and really showcased UT’s commitment to ensure their students have the experience they need to move forward in their clinical practice. I was very impressed with the diversity of the mannequins to give students the experience working with diverse patients and having their student populations represented as well.
The final stop of Healthcare Day was a tour of the new Moffitt Cancer Center inpatient hospital located on their McKinley campus that will focus on surgeries. Dr. Patrick Hwu, President and CEO of Moffitt Cancer Center, shared a staggering statistic - Florida has the second highest cancer burden in the country. Moffitt Cancer Center is working on many initiatives, but they are specifically focused on research, prevention (smoking cessation, reducing obesity, and sun safety care) and looking at disparities in cancer care. Currently, an individual’s zip code dictates their outcome. Scheduled to open on July 31st, this new hospital is 10 stories and will have 128 inpatient beds and 19 operating rooms.
At the end of Leadership Tampa’s Healthcare Day, I felt grateful to live in a community that offers high quality services and care for our residents – many thanks to our sponsor, Tampa General Hospital, and our Day Chairs, Anthony Santucci and Donna Tope, for putting together a comprehensive and meaningful agenda!