Martha McGill, President, Central Florida Region, Nemours Children’s Health

Invest: sat down with Martha McGill, president of the Central Florida region of Nemours Children’s Health, to discuss how the organization is addressing the workforce shortage in healthcare in the region, the need to prioritize mental healthcare, and how it is heading toward becoming the top-ranked children’s hospital in the state.

What have been some notable achievements for Nemours Children’s Health in the Greater Orlando region?

We’ve accomplished a lot here in the Central Florida region. Recently, we announced an expanded partnership with the University of Central Florida (UCF) where we established the University of Central Florida College of Medicine – Nemours Children’s Health Department of Pediatrics. This partnership will allow us to continue training the next generation of pediatric physicians and create a pipeline of skilled, well-trained clinicians to care for Florida’s children well into the future. In fact, we will train over 200 residents this year and every UCF medical student already receives their pediatrics training from Nemours Children’s during their third year, with many of them joining us again during their fourth year for additional educational experiences. Now, we will be able to expand upon those efforts. 

This is crucial because Florida has 4.2 million children, and with the forecasted shortage of pediatric specialists in our state, we are taking a proactive approach to help ensure continued access to treatment and address gaps in the care continuum. 

We’ve also been at the forefront of breakthrough cancer research. One of our physicians, Tamarah Westmoreland, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery at Nemours Children’s in Orlando, along with other Nemours Children’s scientists, has been conducting groundbreaking research using the Zika virus to potentially treat neuroblastoma tumors. The initial findings suggest that the Zika virus could one day serve as an effective cancer therapy. This research was published in the American Journal of Cancer Research and is truly groundbreaking, offering hope for combatting a type of cancer that does not currently have an effective treatment or cure.

Also, our well beyond medicine philosophy continues to come to life across the region as we bring organizations together with innovative strategies to reach and engage patients and families. For instance, our Ginsburg Institute for Health Equity at Nemours Children’s Health recently partnered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida to create a sustainable community garden in an underserved area of Orlando. This initiative aims to establish a comprehensive, multisystem solution to address food and nutrition insecurity in our community. 

How is the University of Central Florida College of Medicine – Nemours Children’s Health Department of Pediatrics expected to enhance pediatric training and healthcare in the region?

Florida is one of the nation’s fastest-growing states and we already have the third-largest pediatric population in the country. There is a tremendous need for more physicians, who are expertly trained, to meet the needs of children across the state. For years, our physicians have partnered with the University of Central Florida College of Medicine to train their students, residents and fellows. Now, with a department specifically dedicated to pediatrics, UCF medical students and physician trainees will have substantially more opportunities for education, research and mentorship with Nemours Children’s pediatric experts. 

We will play a bigger role in the development of the curriculum, hands-on experiences and the full gambit of skill-building to really enhance the training and maturation of every single student who chooses pediatrics as their career path. We’ve had great success with students who trained with us and completed their pediatric residency programs. We also know that more than 70% of those who have trained with us choose to stay in Florida, many right here in the Central Florida region, to care for our children. It’s a win-win situation.

What are the specific goals and recent activities of the Ginsburg Institute, and how does it impact local health equity initiatives?

Thanks to Alan Ginsburg and the Ginsburg Family Foundation’s generous $25 million gift, we are in a position to make a tremendous impact in communities across Central Florida. The Ginsburg Institute for Health Equity at Nemours Children’s Health was created to provide leadership, build community partnerships and create innovative programs to improve children’s health and lives by advancing health equity. We are off to a great start. We’ve named an executive director, Nancy Molello, who is actively engaged in our community to understand the needs of our children. She is able to leverage the support of advocates and ambassadors and the expertise of researchers, physicians, academics and many more to help build a healthy and thriving community outside the walls of our hospital. These efforts really embody our philosophy, well beyond medicine. Most health occurs in homes and communities, not hospitals, and we’re bringing people and entities together, providing grants and expertise and supporting critical initiatives focused on food insecurity, literacy and other social drivers of health throughout Central Florida. We’re committed to using the resources entrusted to us to make a lasting impact on the health and well-being of our children.

How is Nemours Children’s Health leveraging healthcare technology to improve patient care and outcomes?

Healthcare continues to evolve as technology enhances our ability to provide exceptional care for patients. An interesting feature at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida is our clinical logistics center. It looks something like a NASA control room. It’s a clinical command center where nurses and other professionals monitor patients admitted at our hospitals across Nemours Children’s, whether they are in Delaware or Orlando. This space acts as a second set of eyes, leveraging technology and predictive analytics to provide real-time, 24/7 monitoring of patients to enhance the quality of care we provide across our health system.  

Mental health challenges, particularly in children and adolescents, are a significant concern in Central Florida. What steps is Nemours taking to address this issue?

Most children’s main method of receiving care is through their primary care provider, and Nemours Children’s has one of the largest primary care groups in the region. We have embedded behavioral health specialists in all of our primary care offices, which has had a significantly positive impact on the mental health of children we see. We also have behavioral health resources at our main hospital campus. This approach allows us to address mental health issues early to provide the necessary resources and support. 

Additionally, we collaborate with various local organizations throughout Central Florida to provide clinical expertise and support the expansion of mental health resources within the community. In 2022, we began operating the Central Florida Behavioral Health Hub in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health. The Hub’s goal is to reduce wait times for children to access behavioral health services by further training primary care physicians on mental health care delivery. As a result, more than 300 additional children have received behavioral health services in the last six months. 

How is Nemours addressing the healthcare workforce shortage in Central Florida?

Our UCF partnership is one of the cornerstones of our efforts to combat workforce shortages. In addition, we have the Nemours Workforce Pipeline Development Program, which offers work-based opportunities to underrepresented teens and young adults while also addressing the nursing shortage. We have partnered with private colleges and public school districts to provide clinical practice opportunities at Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida and clinics in the Central Florida region. 

Our workforce pipeline initiatives are also broadening into other health science fields as we continue to expand our partnerships with organizations across the region, such as Junior Achievement. This approach enables us to raise awareness of healthcare careers at an early age and inspire young people to pursue their passions in the medical field as they mature into adulthood.

What are some exciting projects you’re looking forward to in the next five years?

Nemours Children’s Hospital, Florida is one of only four specialty-licensed freestanding children’s hospitals in the state. Our goal is to become the top-ranked children’s hospital for Florida’s 4.2 million children. To achieve this, we’re investing in our clinical, teaching and research programs. For example, our hospital’s orthopedics program now cares for more children with fractures than any other in Florida and our imaging team reads more pediatric images than any other program nationwide. Between our Orlando and Jacksonville teams, our cancer program is the largest for pediatric cancer and blood disorders in the state. 

As we invest in and expand our teaching and training programs, this year our complement of residents increased, allowing us to train 48 pediatric residents annually through our institution-based residency program. Our institution has also begun to train subspecialty fellows in pediatrics, like endocrinologists and pulmonologists, to ensure we have expert pediatric specialists in our state to care for the growing population of children. Finally, we remain committed to training UCF medical students, residents and fellows in pediatric medical and surgical fields.  

On the research front, we aim to increase our National Institutes of Health grant funding. As we intensify efforts to lead groundbreaking clinical trials and expand research activities, we aspire to be in the top 10 in grant funding in the nation. 

Overall, we’re fully committed to making the necessary investments to provide the best care for Florida’s children and become the top-ranked children’s hospital. Everything we do is done to ensure that every child in Florida can receive world-class, specialized care for their unique needs right here at home.