3 min read February 2023 — In an interview with Invest:, Matthew Love, president and CEO of Nicklaus Children’s Health System, talked about its new surgical tower, how to create a nourishing work environment and the benefits of healthcare providers engaging with patients and families in a collaborative manner as many people do their own online research now.
What have been some of the biggest milestones for Nicklaus Children over the last year?
Frankly, we have done so much across so many disciplines so I will mention three of the bigger ones. Firstly, we were named the No. 1 children’s hospital in Florida by U.S. News & World Report. While we tied with a couple of others, that is still an incredible achievement as it speaks to the quality of our programs and services. As such, we are really proud of our team being recognized at the national level. Secondly, we are one of the 12 children’s hospitals nationwide to be recognized by Leapfrog, which is a national organization that focuses on patient safety, quality and transparency. Lastly, from a people perspective, we employ over 4,000 people and we were named one of the most-loved workplaces in the country. Given what has happened with staffing and workforce, this is a significant achievement for us. Simultaneously, we had a solid operational and financial performance in 2022.
The hospital recently broke ground on a new surgical tower. How are you hoping the tower and its capabilities will impact the industry?
When we finish in about two years, it will be the most state-of-the-art facility in the country. The operating suites will be large enough to accommodate multidisciplinary surgical teams and the latest equipment. This new tower will support surgeon recruitment so that we can continue to attract the best surgical talent to South Florida.
What are some of the factors driving patient experience in receiving healthcare today?
A lot of it is around convenience and service, which is why a huge part of this is trust. We have an obligation to be a trusted pediatric healthcare partner in the community, which means that when someone picks up a phone when a child needs an appointment, they can get that appointment in a reasonable timeframe. No one wants to wait long periods when they are concerned about the health of their child. Also, people are worried about costs because healthcare can be extremely expensive and so we have an obligation as an industry to address that. We have to be the stewards of our resources and deliver good value to those we serve.
Where do you think the industry stands right now regarding that volume to value shift?
For South Florida, I would say that we are starting the journey around value. Sometimes, it’s the perception of the patient and family about the tension between value and volume, so sometimes patients pay a little bit more because of this perceived quality. We have to recognize that there will be some monetized services, so when you see a new entry in the industry by Amazon and others, then that shouldn’t scare us. We should welcome newcomers because that supports delivery of healthcare. We continue to focus on the complex care needs, so when a child needs surgery of any kind, we are the specialized children’s hospital of choice.
What are some of the emerging trends in healthcare?
I do believe that patients and families are doing their own research now for services, utilizing the tools that they have at their disposal to find the best place. For example, when I was growing up, you went to one doctor who referred you to one hospital because that is all you had. However, now, if a family has a child needing a heart procedure, they are going to go online to see who is the best provider of this service. Additionally, regarding the trend for costs and labor resources, there will be an increase as inflation will continue going into 2023.
What is your outlook for the hospital for the near term?
We’re in the best place we’ve been in for a long time, which is why I am extremely optimistic and upbeat regarding our outlook. We’ve done significant recruitment over the last year, we have our surgical tower going up and we also have our four clinical institutes that offer state-of-the art care for children with brain anomalies, congenital heart conditions, cancer and blood disorders and orthopedic care needs. Also, we are focusing on key things that make a difference, such as personalized medicine, as they are small but impactful because in addition to the grand things that we are doing, it is important to keep a focus on things that are small and impactful as well. We also do rapid and whole genome sequencing, which enables us to quickly identify the medical needs for newborns and children with rare and complex conditions. This helps us provide answers to parents more quickly, reduce costs and improve treatment.
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