2 min read August 2023 — Invest: was joined by David Ottati, president and CEO of AdventHealth’s West Florida Division, to discuss the evolution of healthcare in Tampa Bay and how strong partnerships create a strong workforce. “At our core, we are a service organization and our biggest asset is our team members,” he said.
How is AdventHealth navigating the current economic landscape?
Most industries are facing rising costs and healthcare is no exception. Currently, we face a challenging situation that requires careful balance. As our organization expands, we’re looking to increase the number of inpatient beds and outpatient centers for primary care. However, these endeavors come with substantially increased costs. Unfortunately, the existing payment system within the industry has remained largely unchanged, which exacerbates the pressure we face to deliver care. So with all of the economic fluctuations that are happening in the market, the healthcare sector is undeniably experiencing its impact.
On one side of the equation, healthcare is experiencing significant cost pressures, requiring us to become more efficient and reduce expenses. On the other side, we are investing more in the market because there is a higher demand for healthcare services in our region.
What is AdventHealth focusing on in its growth?
When we look at our growth strategy, we’re focused on expansion and a geographic footprint that will keep pace with the communities we serve. Since 2019, AdventHealth’s West Florida Division will have invested $1.2B in the counties we serve through the end of 2023, including $572M in Hillsborough County alone. As a large employer in this region, we have more than 15,000 employees serving Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Marion, Hardee and Highlands counties.
In the past four years, we’ve opened many new services. A few highlights include the Taneja Center for Surgery at AdventHealth Tampa, four off-site emergency departments and four new AdventHealth Care Pavilions across the region, which offer convenient services under one roof with primary care, specialty care, imaging and laboratory services. We also started building our newest hospital, AdventHealth Riverview.
To continue meeting the growing needs of the region, we’re expanding our network along the I-4 corridor, connecting Orlando and Tampa. Long term, it is essential for AdventHealth to have the right specialties and a strong physician network in place to support an aging population.
How is AdventHealth strategizing to recruit and retain top talent?
At AdventHealth, we employ clinical team members, like physicians and nurses, but also thousands of other business administrative roles, like accountants and lawyers, who support our network of care.
Our recruitment strategy revolves around investing in our people and helping them grow. We are fostering strong partnerships with colleges and universities, enabling us to create a clinical workforce development platform. We’ve hosted more than 1,000 clinical rotations in our hospitals during the first half of 2023, with many more expected in the coming months. This allows us to identify promising talent and provides students with practical and firsthand experience of our organization before they join us.
To ensure the retention of our workforce, we place a strong emphasis on career development. Our robust clinical ladder program empowers nurses to enhance their knowledge and skills, while also offering higher salaries as they progress.
By investing in our people, we’re creating an environment where employees choose to stay with us for the long term. Our goal is to foster a talented and dedicated workforce that contributes to the exceptional care we provide at AdventHealth.
Is there any current legislation you are tracking that would impact AdventHealth?
We are grateful to our legislators for the passage of House Bill 825, which plays a significant role in protecting our staff against physical assault and battery while they are trying to provide care. Sadly, in recent years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of patients who become combative while receiving care in our facilities. Our top priority is to provide safe, exceptional, and high-quality care to our patients and ensure the safety of our team members. HB825 takes things to the next level by recognizing assault on hospital staff as a serious crime in the judicial system. This is a game-changer, one that we hope will serve as a crucial deterrent to help keep our employees safe.
Another wonderful development is the increased funding for nursing education in the state of Florida. This is a big deal for us, especially as Florida’s population continues to grow. We’ll need a strong supply of nurses to keep up with the demand for our expanding services. With more funding available to a wider net of schools and colleges, we can nurture a robust pipeline of talented nurses. It’s all about ensuring we have the manpower to provide top-notch care as the needs of our community evolves.
What are your top priorities over the next two to three years?
At our core, we are a service organization, and our biggest asset is our team members. We are looking at how we recruit and retain a sustainable workforce while investing in our people.
Because healthcare is extremely fragmented, we are focused on making the consumer journey as easy as possible by making healthcare easy to access and simple to use. We want consumers to experience a seamless connection to our network of care, our physicians, and their personal health data. We recently invested millions of dollars into a state-of-the-art medical record information management system called EPIC that enables patients and providers to access the latest health information and medical history while seamlessly connecting all of our specialties and care sites on one unified platform. Our user friendly AdventHealth mobile app creates easy access to this information and empowers consumers to take control of their healthcare.
We also see AI as an opportunity to support our mission through solutions that can enhance our patient experience, operational efficiency, safety, clinical excellence, health equity, team member experience and more. From imaging and coding, to searching patient records, it has given us amazing efficiencies while improving processes and enhancing quality of care. Any AI solution that we utilize undergoes a rigorous review process by a cross-functional team of experts that ensures security, privacy, efficacy, and health equity.
For more information, visit:
https://www.adventhealth.com/business/adventhealth-west-florida-media-resources
