Denyse Bales-Chubb, President & CEO – Palm Coast/Flagler/St. Johns, AdventHealth

Denyse Bales-Chubb, president and CEO of AdventHealth Palm Coast and also market CEO for Flagler and St. Johns counties, spoke with Invest: about the different ways that the health system is leveraging robotics and telehealth. “Technology is wonderful for healthcare because it advances what we do and helps treat people and get them back to their regular lives faster,” she said.

What have been the main highlights and key milestones for AdventHealth in Northeast Florida?

AdventHealth has grown tremendously since 2018. We went from being an $11 billion company to a $16 billion company operating over 50 hospitals throughout nine states. Part of that growth has been in Flagler County where we opened a new 100-bed hospital in August 2023. AdventHealth’s philosophy is to be close to the patient, so we focus on ensuring that there are hospitals within each community providing the services that are most needed, instead of having large medical centers that people must travel to. We are always looking for ways to serve our communities with the physicians and service lines that each community needs.

What are the main trends shaping the healthcare industry in Northeast Florida?

Florida is one of the fastest-growing states in the country, and Flagler County and St. Johns are dynamic environments with many different players working to serve their different communities. The population growth predictions for Flagler County had to be revised and increased from 138,000 by 2030 to 157,000. With such growth, we need to ensure that we continue recruiting physicians so they can provide services to our community. 

We also have a maturing but active demographic, so the services we provide must cater to that group. For instance, we need to have a strong orthopedic program and orthopedic surgeons because that demographic wants to stay healthy and active and loves to play tennis, pickleball, and golf and ride bicycles. Moreover, we received approval to build a 12-bed, off-site emergency department in St. Johns that will be the first phase of what we build on that 10-acre lot. 

Additionally, off-site emergency departments (EDs) have come on strong over the past few years. Those EDs provide full emergency room services. For instance, their emergency room doctors and nurses have all the X-ray, lab, and imaging services that a traditional emergency department attached to a hospital would have. Nevertheless, off-site emergency rooms are closer to people in those communities, so people who break a leg can go to those rooms that are closer to their place of residence. 

What is your view on the impact of technology on the healthcare sector?

Technology is wonderful for healthcare because it advances what we do and helps treat people and get them back to their regular lives faster. Healthcare has embraced robotics, particularly in our surgical suites. For instance, the DaVinci robot leads the way in terms of general surgery, urology, and gynecological surgery services. We are proud to have a DaVinci robot in each of our hospitals in Flagler County.  

Another piece of robotic technology that we have obtained for AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway is the AquaBeam to treat benign prostate enlargement. That is a big relief for men suffering from that disease as it can get them treated and back home in 24 to 72 hours. Additionally, AdventHealth Palm Coast has the Mako robot that helps orthopedic surgeons be more precise when they do a knee or hip replacement, which then helps patients heal and get back to their life much faster.

Additionally, with COVID, everybody started doing more things remotely, which has helped our patients as well. Sometimes it is difficult for patients to travel to see their physicians because they lack transportation, so we do a lot of virtual visits with our patients, including implementing these as free urgent care video visits with medical providers for patients in Florida during Hurricane Milton. That helps keep patients healthy. We also have a new form of remote virtual visits where we place cameras in patients’ rooms so they can talk to certain specialists. 

How has telehealth impacted the expectations for patient experience in recent years?

Some patients love the fact that you can bring in specialists from our health system to consult on their care. They appreciate hospitals having that technology and the opportunity to get second opinions, additional information, and questions answered for their family members. Nevertheless, other patients prefer face-to-face contact, which sometimes can be more challenging if their family members are far away from Palm Coast. In those cases, our physicians make sure that they take the time to explain the care and that patients understand it.

We are always looking at ways to enhance communication between patients, physicians, nurses, and family members. It takes that entire group communicating and being on the same page to impact the patient’s experience. That depends on how we leverage technology to make the most out of it and lean into what it can offer. That helps patients and families better understand the benefits that technology provides to them. 

What are the most important challenges affecting the healthcare industry and how is AdventHealth addressing them?

A lot of healthcare organizations in the industry have struggled with staffing and having the appropriate qualified team members to take care of patients. Sometimes the more remote one is, the bigger the challenge to find the right person with the skill set that one needs. In lieu of that, AdventHealth has done several things to ensure that qualified professionals are caring for our patients. 

For instance, we have partnerships with local colleges, such as Jacksonville University and Daytona State College. AdventHealth as an organization invested over $571 million to enhance our team members’ experience by providing things such as free education. Our team members can decide to go back to school and become a nurse, surgical tech, or something else, and AdventHealth will pay for that schooling upfront so they do not have to pay out of pocket. They then get to work for us while they work on their degree and after they get it. That has been huge for team members who want to get an education but may not have the financial means to do it right off the bat. 

We have also done a lot in terms of benefits. We have done a lot to ensure that we are listening to what is important to our team through surveys to create benefits that address the priorities of our team members. 

What are the top priorities for AdventHealth in Northeast Florida for the next two to three years?

As a long-legacy organization, AdventHealth aims to ensure that it is here and viable for many years. The organization makes wise decisions to ensure that we take care of our communities physically, mentally, and spiritually and provide quality, compassionate care regardless of where we are located. We need to ensure that all needs are addressed so that the whole person is treated. The organization also invests back into our hospitals and team members to ensure that our vision and mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ are upheld. We will also continue to look for new locations to provide care for the communities in Florida and the other states where we are located.