Spotlight On: Douglas Baer, President & CEO, Brooks Rehabilitation
June 2024 — Douglas Baer, president and CEO of Brooks Rehabilitation, talked to Invest: about the quality of the healthcare system in North Florida and Jacksonville. He also highlighted the hospital’s inpatient and outpatient strategies, and navigating the challenges related to workforce attraction and retention.
What areas has the Brooks Rehabilitation focused on in the past year?
With an influx of people moving to this region, growth of an aging population and advances in medical care leading to increased survival rates from trauma, Brooks Rehabilitation is facing an increased demand for our services. We have been focusing on growth in two main areas: inpatient rehabilitation hospital beds and outpatient therapy clinics.
We have been in expansion mode at our inpatient facilities due to increasing demand. We have a 60-bed rehab hospital on our Bartram Campus that has ramped up faster than we anticipated in its first two years of operations. That facility has been basically full for the past six months, so we decided to expand it by 36 beds. Our original hospital has experienced a similar dynamic. We have undertaken a two-year, extensive renovation of that facility that includes adding 10 beds. We will have 170 beds in that hospital, which will provide more access in a modern facility. We are also expanding the inpatient rehabilitation unit at our other facility in Daytona, which is in partnership with Halifax Health.
We are also growing our outpatient therapy division. Patients may access outpatient therapy after an inpatient stay, but the majority are referred directly for physical, occupational or speech therapy. Patients with back or shoulder pain, for example, can be treated in our outpatient facilities. We have 15 outpatient clinics in Orlando, and a total of 54 in North and Central Florida. Some of those clinics are highly specialized and focus on neurological issues, in addition to orthopedic problems.
How is the company working to engage with patients after they receive inpatient care?
We offer a full system of care to ensure patients are receiving the right services at the right time in their recovery. Brooks offers outpatient services in more than 50 locations, skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care along with community programs and services to improve the quality of life for people living with physical disabilities.
From adaptive sports and recreation to neuro recovery centers, a specialized aphasia center and brain injury clubhouse, Brooks strives to remove barriers to participation by offering all community programs at little or no cost for participants of all ages. These programs help to promote the physical, social and emotional well-being of individuals with disabilities. Those programs have been much more impactful than we ever anticipated they would be. We even have people moving to Florida to participate in our community programs.
What is your strategy to identify existing needs in healthcare?
We regularly listen to our team members who are on the front line. That helps us identify gaps in care where we can enhance our services. One of those areas is pediatrics, so we recently started a Pediatric Day Treatment Program. This program is in-between inpatient and outpatient care where patients do not need the hospital level of care, but they need intensive therapy. Kids who may, for instance, have suffered trauma can receive specialized treatment.
What initiatives or projects has Brooks Rehabilitation implemented to advance medical technologies?
We have a Center for Innovation that is focused on testing new, emerging medical technologies to help people who are recovering from injuries and illnesses. Companies come to us for our expertise in technology testing, alternative uses and FDA approval. The vast number of patients we serve make research accessible. We have a formalized process, which allows us to stay on the leading edge and implement those technologies that are the most beneficial.
What is the strategy of Brooks Rehabilitation to navigate the challenges posed by workforce shortages in healthcare?
The situation of workforce shortages is better compared to a year or a year-and-a-half ago, but we have been creative in dealing with it. To address the shortage in nursing, we designed a program with Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) to provide an “in-house” opportunity for selected Brooks certified nursing assistants (CNAs) to become licensed practical nurses.
Instructors from FSCJ provide on-site education and Brooks covers the cost of tuition and all supplies. For many of the CNAs, nursing school was out of the question; they didn’t have financial stability nor resources, and many nursing schools want full-time students and don’t offer flexibility around healthcare work schedules. This is a win-win for everyone.
We also have a pressing need for therapists, particularly physical therapists. We work closely with the colleges to offer student internships and training. We believe that it all starts with great people. We can have the best buildings and technology in the world, and the best strategic plan, but if we do not have the best people, we will not achieve our goals. We aim to attract people who bring technical expertise as well as the compassion and customer service aspects.
What partnerships has Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital implemented to attract and retain medical talent?
We signed an agreement with Mayo Clinic to do a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician residency. The reason we launched that residency is to attract top talent. We employ about 23 physicians who are program leaders and participate in our research studies. Those physicians need to be at the top of their game to teach other physicians. Attracting more talent ultimately helps us get better outcomes again for our patients and complements our therapy residency and fellowship program.
How would you characterize the healthcare industry and the rehabilitation sector in Jacksonville?
Our health system in general is very strong. Jacksonville has a number of healthcare systems, including the Mayo Clinic, which is the No. 1 health system in the world. That organization attracts patients from across the country and internationally. The city also has the Nemours Children’s Health clinic with the support of Wolfson and UF Health, the Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center and the UF Health Trauma Center. After acute care, Brooks Rehabilitation may then help with the rehabilitation side of a patient’s recovery.
Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital focuses on some of the most complex conditions, such as brain injuries, strokes, spinal cord injuries, amputation and other neurological issues. The remainder of our healthcare system in Jacksonville encompasses clinical settings, research, education and community programs that are focused on helping people who live with disabilities. Not many places have the resources for people who live with disabilities that we do. Up to 25% of the patients that we see in our hospitals come from outside of our immediate service area. We also have extensive partnerships to help catastrophically injured workers who come here for specialized care.
What are some things that you would like to see in Jacksonville over the next three to five years?
Continuing the growth in a smart way. We need to ensure that we have the right kind of infrastructure for growth. There is a major initiative to rebuild the Jaguars stadium. That will be one of the biggest decisions and investments that the city has ever made. Jacksonville is one of 32 cities that have an NFL team, which is important to leverage for overall quality of life.
We also need to address some of the challenged areas here. We need to better manage some of the crime and inequities common to the bigger cities and improve the quality of life for all residents. Some of that comes from creating opportunities that meet people where they are. We also need to work on the things that can help that quality of life blossom, such as a great education sector and things that are attractive for young people, like housing, bars, restaurants, and an entertainment district.
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