Page 35 - CANNABIS NEWS FLORIDA JUNE 2020

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A message from our President

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Boca Biolistic

While hospitals really didn’t go anywhere over office or hospital clinic is a really Florida Pace
the last two months, the types and numbers of complex challenge," said Goldsmith,
patients they served sure did! Larger portions of adding that will largely depend on
hospital admissions were devoted to caring for how safe the hospital workforce feels. "If 60% to 70% of admissions come
COVID-19 patients and other patients, needing through the emergency department, a 30% decline in ED visits is a huge offset
to have elective surgeries or procedures, were in related admissions. I would bet the recovery of ED volume will take longer
asked to wait; emergencies only need apply. than people think—many months—and that will have a lag effect on admis-
All of that changed the first part of May. sions."
Hospitals, after attesting to being able to meet Hospitals have done everything that was asked of them. They cancelled their
certain requirements created by the Agency for elective procedures and readied their facilities to handle the influx of COVID-19
Healthcare Administration, began the slow patients. Luckily for us, many businesses and people in our area decided to shel-
process of scheduling patients in need of elective ter-at-home much earlier than the state and federal orders and we were able to
procedures. That process for most hospitals change the shape of the curve. During that time, hospitals worked diligently to
was very deliberate with many of them creat- create areas to assess and treat COVID-19 patients that were separate and apart
ing hierarchies to ensure that the most critical from areas used to treat other patients. That continues today and will for a long
Jaime Caldwell patients were treated first. Getting people out time. The state’s surgeon general calls it, “hospitals within hospitals.”
of pain was a key factor and included such If anything, hospitals are even safer today than they were pre-COVID.
procedures as cardiac catheterizations and hip and knee surgeries. With Heightened disinfection procedures, screening and testing of their employees,
demand being hot, many hospitals increased their surgical availability to cohorting (the separation of COVID patients from the general patient popula-
include an extra weekend day. tion) all make hospitals a safe place for patient care.
Despite the fact that we are starting to care for more patients in our local Now is not the time to be foolish! Do you remember when 9-1-1 systems were
hospitals, emergency department volumes are still down and we are seeing just being built and a lot of attention was put on educating people to use it in the
more and more articles talking about the growing number of deaths that are event of an emergency? Well, it is time for us to relearn that lesson because too
occurring in residences. In a recent story in Modern Healthcare about hospital many people are ignoring those lessons with fatal or near-fatal outcomes.
financial performance in April, Jeff Goldsmith, founder and president of the If you are at home and feel ill, it is okay for you to call 9-1-1 and go to your local
consultancy Health Futures, was quoted as saying, "Regaining the confidence hospital. They will use that part of the hospital that is most appropriate for you to
of the public so they know they are safe coming into the ER, a primary care care for your injury or illness.

2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS SFHHA COMMITTEES
CHAIRMAN: Mark Doyle, Chief Executive Officer, Memorial Hospital Pembroke
VICE CHAIR: Jared Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Broward Health Coral Springs
SECRETARY: William “Bill” Duquette, Chief Executive Officer, Homestead Hospital
TREASURER: Charles Felix, Publisher, South Florida Hospital News & Healthcare Report
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR: David Wagner, Kindred South Florida Market CEO
AT-LARGE: Lincoln Mendez, Chief Executive Officer, Boca Raton Regional Hospital
Education Committee
AT-LARGE: Joel Wherley, Chief Operating Officer, VITAS
Doug Bartel, MBA Willian “Bill” Duquette Brian Keeley (Board Advisor) Loretta Sheffield
Senior Director of (Secretary) President & CEO Chief Executive Officer
Business Development, Media Chief Executive Officer Baptist Health South Florida Select Hospital - Miami
And External Relations Homestead Hospital Healthcare Finance and Management Committee
Florida Blue Baptist Health South Florida Ralph A. Marrinson, Mindy Shikiar
NHA, FACHA Chief Operating Officer
Wael Barsoum, M.D. Charles Felix (Treasurer) President Boca Raton Regional Hospital
Chief Executive Officer Publisher Marrinson Group Health Information Technology Committee
Cleveland Clinic Hospital South Florida Hospital News and Jared Smith (Vice Chair)
Healthcare Report Lincoln Mendez (At Large) Chief Executive Officer
Marc Bivins, M.D. Chief Executive Officer Broward Health Coral Springs
Chief Medical Officer Aurelio M. Fernandez III South Miami Hospital Marketing and Public Relations Committee
Holy Cross Hospital (Board Advisor) Steve Ullmann
President & CEO Charles Michelson Director
Kevin Conn Memorial Healthcare System Partner University of Miami
Regional Vice President of Saltz Michelson Architects Health Policy Management Membership Committee
Operations Grisel Fernandez-Bravo
Encompass Health Ana M. Viamonte Ros,
Chief Executive Officer Aristides (Ardy) Pallin M.D.
Maria Currier (General Memorial Hospital Miramar Chief Operating Officer Medical Director for Palliative Quality and Patient Safety Committee
Counsel) Catholic Health Services Care and Bioethics
Partner Michael Gittelman (Board Baptist Health South Florida
Holland & Knight, LLP Advisor) Michael Roffelson
Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer David Wagner
Steve Demers Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Encompass Health – Sunrise (Immediate Past Chair) Safety and Security Committee
Chief Operating Officer Kindred South Florida Market CEO
University of Miami Health System Patricia Greenberg Alex Romillo
Chief Executive Officer President President & CEO Joel Wherley (At-Large)
University of Miami Hospital National Healthcare Associates Health Choice Network Chief Operating Officer
and Clinics VITAS
Gino Santorio (Board
Randy Gross
Mark Doyle (Chairman) Chief Executive Officer Advisor)
Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer
Memorial Hospital Pembroke Broward Health Imperial Point Broward Health
6 June 2020 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News