The Future is Bright

On June 5th, I accepted the position of President and CEO of Tampa General Hospital (TGH), a role I will assume on September 1st. Over the last seven years, the team at Jupiter Medical Center has been able to transform a great hospital into a world-class system of care. We have done this through innovation, collaboration, the proliferation of technologies and programs, and the embracing of common goals and organizational culture. And so I leave not only proud of the work that has been done by the entire team, but excited for the future of Jupiter Medical Center going forward. There is great momentum at Jupiter and I look forward to witnessing all the amazing things to come.

While leaving Jupiter will be bittersweet, I am honored and truly humbled to accept this new role at TGH. Moving to TGH represents a return to what I love most—academic medicine. I got my start in academic medicine with Massachusetts General Hospital and working within that model is where my passion lies and what gets me the most excited and motivated.

TGH is an incredible institution run by an amazing team with an illustrious history and deep, deep roots in the community. I feel privileged that I am able to work with this group of people. Everyone from those in senior leadership to the trustees, to the team members and physicians.

For those of you not familiar with the hospital, it is truly world-class and one of the leading medical institutions in Florida and the southeastt. It is home of one of the leading organ transplant centers in the United States. It contains one of only four burn units in Florida and is the only level one trauma center on the West Coast of Florida—transporting patients from all over the region via medical helicopter to receive life-saving care. Finally, it is the primary teaching affiliate of the University of South Florida’s Health Morsani college (USF).

My first task after joining the organization will be to listen—to team members, to physicians, to patients and community members and to learn from them. I plan to immerse myself in all levels of the organization and in its culture in order to truly understand all aspects of the hospital from its successes to its challenges. I also want to understand both quality and patient satisfaction metrics. I believe wholeheartedly that in order to lead effectively you must learn and listen first.

There are also countless people in Tampa who rely on the hospital for their care and well-being. In order to best serve the community, I will spend time getting to know everyone involved—reaching out to its business leaders, its civic leaders, its government officials and its citizens.

In addition, one of the hallmarks of TGH is its relationship and collaboration with USF. This relationship is critical to the current and future success of the hospital and I plan on spending significant time working with our USF partners and physicians to not only understand the great things that they are doing, but also to understand where they want to go in the years to come. We can’t lose sight of the rich history TGH has with its local community physicians so we need to continue engaging and supporting them as well.

Once I have spent time learning and listening, I will begin to work with the trustees and the entire team to develop a strategic plan for the future. Together we will map out the vision and objectives for the next three, five and ten years of TGH. At the end of the day, my goal is to help TGH deliver the highest possible quality care that is met with the highest satisfaction ratings from its patients.

Since I first stepped into TGH, I was blown away by the quality and level of care they provide as well as the world-class programs it offers. I cannot wait to get started and to help drive that tradition of excellence further. I know the best days of the hospital are ahead of us as we lead not only the region but the state of Florida in medical excellence.