Shane Strum, President & CEO, Broward Health

May 2026 — In an interview with Invest:, Shane Strum, president and CEO of Broward Health and Interim CEO of Memorial Healthcare System, discussed partnerships, investments, and focus on expanding access to care across Broward County. “We are collaborating on ways to expand patient access and enhance outcomes for all,” Strum said.

What key changes over the past year have most impacted Broward Health?

One of the most exciting changes impacting Broward Health has been our partnership with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, which is the largest children’s hospital in Florida with over 400 pediatric physicians. Broward Health embarked on a journey two years ago to expand pediatric specialty care across Broward County so parents would not have to take their child out of the area to receive the highest level of pediatric specialty care.

Almost 20% of the children who come to Broward Health are typically high acuity and require pediatric specialists and subspecialists that we historically were unable to provide. But upon finding the right partner in Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, we created working groups and teams to guide the operational and regulatory process of making Nicklaus our official partner. At midnight on March 1, Broward Health Medical Center and Broward Health Coral Springs flipped the switch, and Nicklaus clinicians assumed the care of all pediatrics at our hospitals.

It was a seamless transition. Our 534 Broward Health employees who worked for the children’s hospital became Nicklaus Children’s Hospital at Broward Health employees, and we have been proceeding since with no glitches or issues.

The benefit of a partnership, such as the one we share with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, is that within the first few weeks of Nicklaus’ service in our hospitals, we were able to do procedures together that in previous years would have been referred elsewhere. We have done new cardiac procedures for young children and more procedures by the bedside. Parents and children now have a place for care close to home rather than driving to Miami or elsewhere in the state. 

What was the driving vision behind the Better Together partnership with Memorial Healthcare System?

Better Together is a collaboration between Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System that has long been desired by our community. We are collaborating on ways to expand patient access and enhance outcomes for all.

The big takeaway is that despite our independent best efforts, there are still limitations in access for our patients. So, we said, let’s work on primary and maternity care. Specifically, we identified hypertension, diabetes, and fetal and maternal outcomes as KPIs to assess our success as we invest in more clinic locations, utilize mobile health and remote monitoring, while also incorporating food insecurity, as it is a determinant of health outcomes. We have partnered with organizations like Farm Share, and at recent municipal events, we were able to deliver a few thousand bags filled with eggs and produce to help feed families.

We started at the local level. We wanted to keep costs low, share resources, and use economies of scale in a way that would be important for us. We have also combined thought leadership from our stakeholders to create goals and strategies to increase access to and usage of primary and maternity care. As a result, we anticipate an immediate impact on basic levels of care, enabling diagnosis and management of long-term chronic conditions.

What are the most pressing challenges around access to care in Broward County today?

The biggest challenges to care access are geographical distance and getting a doctor’s appointment. Broward is a large county with 2 million people. We are working to increase access to meet all community needs through Memorial’s One City at a Time series and Broward Health’s version of the same program, Stay Healthy Together.

In both instances, with the support of underserved municipalities, we have flipped the model through the use of multiple mobile health units that go into the community at set times and places that are convenient for people who are working and cannot get to us. They are virtual primary care on wheels that visit cities on weekdays and faith-based locations on weekends. We do health and wellness, oncology, diabetes and diagnostic screenings, as well as preventative maintenance that many people would be otherwise unable to access. Then, upon their return, the mobile units offer maintenance care to ensure patients’ chronic conditions are monitored and remain compliant with recommended treatment.

One thing we learned after COVID was that people are sometimes afraid to come to the hospital, and others do not have the resources to get there. Patients were not going to their oncologists or other specialists, and they were not receiving annual physicals through primary care providers. Consistent maintenance of care is critical because it allows us to detect and test things early.

We are committed to enhancing healthcare offerings by opening more clinics in underserved areas and stretching care beyond the four walls of our hospitals. That is the only way to ensure patients can get consistent care. It really is about taking healthcare to the people of Broward.

A great example of that model is Broward Health’s new Maternity Care Center. We identified Lauderhill as a maternity desert, meaning there were no OB/GYNs. In response, we opened the Broward HealthPoint Maternity Care Center there. Many thought that, if we were lucky, we might see about 200 uninsured mothers who did not have an OB/GYN. Within a year, instead of 200 mothers, the maternity center saw over 2,000 mothers who were able to get the care they needed. The success has been extraordinary, and we want to replicate that success elsewhere across the county.

How are technology and other healthcare trends shaping Broward Health’s strategy?

There are a lot of factors impacting the healthcare industry, particularly public healthcare systems like Broward Health and Memorial. There are financial pressures, changes to Medicaid, challenges with payer compensation, and workforce shortages that drive up wages and operational costs.

Technology is also a major factor. Advancements in technology for clinical and business operations are something people are asking about, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), which is changing every element of healthcare, from how physicians dictate and transcribe notes to how web and digital assets communicate and respond with inquiring patients.

We have AI language models that help review images and medical records and support diagnoses, treatment plans, and more. In radiology, the AI is constantly scanning. If it detects something, it sends it to the radiologist for review. Over the next few years, AI will revolutionize how businesses operate, and in healthcare, it will help optimize performance and ultimately save lives.

Broward Health also invested in Epic, our electronic medical records system. That was a $250 million investment to modernize our electronic health records capabilities. Most hospitals in Broward County are on Epic, and by transitioning to the system, patients across the county can have access to their medical records through that integration. In an emergency, that matters. If someone ends up at Broward Health after receiving services at another hospital, we can look at their records immediately instead of calling another hospital.

How are workforce dynamics evolving, and what is your strategy to attract, develop, and retain talent?

Between Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System, there are approximately 30,000 employees. Despite being two of the largest employers in the region, physician and nurse shortages remain, as well as deficits in medical technicians and clinical areas. Broward Health has been addressing physician shortages through our growing graduate medical education program. We are the largest statutory training hospital in the region. Our goal is not only to train physicians through residency and fellowship programs but to retain them upon graduation.

We have created a pipeline with Broward College and CareerSource Broward, a link for workforce development in Broward County. Florida has 23 workforce groups that receive grants and funding for training at all levels, including training for medical techs, lab techs, and other critical areas. The pipeline is important, and we are going to continue collaborating with local colleges, universities, and CareerSource. 

The work doesn’t stop with our educational partners. Our internal Education Department is constantly evolving programming, incentivizing our workforce to build career ladders through in-house training, such as our simulation labs, and through reimbursements for those who want to pursue bachelor’s and master’s degrees to refine their skill sets. There exists a very deliberate process to help more entry-level roles become specialized for advanced clinical settings and often administrative roles across the system.

What are your key goals and priorities for Broward Health over the next couple of years?

We want to continue Better Together. It has made an impact at the local level and shown that two large healthcare systems can work together for the betterment of the community. We want to look for more partnerships, develop more collaborations, and enter into new opportunities with other partners, just like we did with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.

We also have an aggressive growth plan for physical space and service lines in neurology, cardiology, oncology, pediatrics, and more specialties. Our Boards of Commissioners have allowed us to invest heavily in capital, technologies, and renovations. As we approach Broward Health’s 90th and Memorial’s 75th anniversary, our buildings need remodeling, new technology, and new equipment. Physicians and patients demand it.

We recently held a groundbreaking for a new medical office building at Broward Health North. It will be 127,000 square feet and have 75 exam rooms, with the ability to expand to 123. It will offer cardiovascular, neuroscience, and orthopedics with space to expand to other service lines.

We also broke ground at our flagship hospital in downtown Fort Lauderdale on another new medical office building, expected to be eight stories, 188,000 square feet with a 700-car parking space garage. 

In June and July, we plan to open freestanding emergency rooms in Sunrise and Lighthouse Point. The Sunrise location will have a lab, imaging, and 24/7 emergency room physicians. The Lighthouse Point location will have physician practices on the second floor. About a year from now, we will also open another freestanding emergency room for pediatrics and adult care in partnership with the city of Fort Lauderdale and the YMCA at Holiday Park. Additional ERs are opening in Miramar and Pembroke Pines for our Memorial patients.

There is a lot going on at Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System. We’re transforming the region’s healthcare for the better. Last year alone, Broward Health and Memorial provided approximately $800 million in charitable care to our community. We have grown revenues, expanded our geographical footprint, strengthened our credit ratings, and broadened access to care. It really is an exciting time as our two systems revolutionize the healthcare landscape of Broward County.