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Volume 17 • Issue 12 • $5.00 June 2021
THE REGION’S MONTHLY NEWSPAPER FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS & PHYSICIANS

Hospital Staffing

Contract Labor, COVID

Affecting Hospital Staffing

BY VANESSA ORR

In the ever-evolving world of healthcare, change is the
only thing that remains the same. This is especially true
in the area of hospital staffing, where the workforce and
the way that it is deployed is constantly shifting.
“I think that the pandemic has certainly forced us to
Marius J. Ged
look at workforce planning very differently,” said Margie Lucas Diaz
Vargas, senior vice president and chief human resources
How Repealing officer, Memorial Healthcare System, of changes caused Best in Class
by COVID-19.
Before the pandemic, for example, healthcare workers
PIP Can Impact often chose to work in one location where they could Margie Vargas Ultrasound
build their careers. Today, an increasing number of profes-
Healthcare sionals, particularly in licensed positions like RNs, respiratory therapists and imaging System Now
clinicians, are taking on travel assignments and becoming contract personnel, due in
Providers part to a more lucrative contract and hourly rate. Available in
“This has been a real challenge for those of us in the healthcare space,” said Vargas.
“As the pandemic progressed, more and more Memorial clinicians were being recruit-
ed for traveling assignments to different parts of the country, and we saw the depar- South Florida
BY DANIEL CASCIATO ture of staff members to go to the Midwest.

Florida’s personal-injury protection Continued on page 16 BY DANIEL CASCIATO
(PIP) auto insurance system, also known
as "no-fault," would end in 2022 under The ACUSON Sequoia, the flagship
proposals in both the state House (House Drew Grossman Named CEO ultrasound system from Siemens
Bill 719) and Senate (Senate Bill 54). Both Healthineers, is now available in South
bills will repeal PIP and replace it with of Fishermen’s Community Florida. An ultra-premium ultrasound
Mandatory Bodily Injury Insurance system, ACUSON Sequoia is designed to
(MBI). Hospital and Mariners Hospital address the most prevalent challenges in
The current no-fault system was intend- ultrasound today, according to Lucas Diaz,
ed to make insurance claims less adversar- co-owner and Director of Customer
ial than lawsuits. Florida motorists are BY DANIEL CASCIATO Experience for Med-Lab, an Advanced
required to carry personal-injury protec- Partner of Siemens Healthineers in South
tion coverage which includes $10,000 in In February, Drew Grossman, former CEO of St. Mary’s Florida.
medical benefits. Medical Center in Blue Springs, MO, was named Chief “Patients’ varied physical characteristics
Under the proposed law, all drivers Executive Officer of Fishermen’s Community Hospital and and user dependent variabilities can nega-
would be required to carry a minimum of Mariners Hospital, both part of Baptist Health South tively impact a clinician’s ability to deliver
$25,000 in coverage for the death or Florida. an accurate diagnosis,” he says. “The
injury of one person and $50,000 for the Grossman, who also previously served as CEO of Broward ACUSON Sequoia enables powerful
injury or death of two or more people. Health Coral Springs and Salah Foundation Children’s automation in each major mode to reduce
PIP coverage currently pays up to Hospital, was excited at the prospect of returning to Florida user variability and deliver high quality
$10,000 of the medical expenses of a and joining the Baptist Health team. imaging with no user interaction.” Some
patient when he or she suffers any injuries “Baptist Health South Florida has always been ranked as Drew Grossman examples of this include InFocus imaging
in a car accident—no matter who is at one of the best companies to work for in the country, not technology, which eliminates the need for
fault, according to Marius J. Ged, one of just in the state of Florida, but in the country,” he says. “They are recognized by manual focal zones. InFocus imaging
the partners with Boca Raton, FL-based Forbes Magazine, not only as one the top 100 companies, but health care companies delivers improved B-mode image quality
Ged Lawyers, LLP. alone. When I worked at Broward Health, I was also well aware of its reputation. and image uniformity with automatic
“There’s a reason for that,” he says. “The When this opportunity came about, I was at a point in my career where I thought focusing of the image at all depths, and
legislature wants swift payments of med- why not go work for a great company like Baptist Health?” with high frame rates. The ACUSON
ical bills so people don’t have to sue each Grossman earned a Bachelor of Science from Pennsylvania State University and a Sequoia was built from the ground up
other to get their medical bills paid.” Master of Health Services Administration from George Washington University in with a new architecture called BioAcoustic
According to Ged, MBI is based on the Washington, DC. After completing his administrative residency at Parkway Medical imaging technology; designed to deliver
premise that every person who causes a Center in North Miami Beach, Grossman moved to Southern California to serve as more image clarity and penetration than
motor vehicle crash will have financial Assistant Administrator at Centinela Hospital Medical Center, an acute care hospital the conventional ultrasound system.
responsibility for the damages caused. serving Los Angeles and the South Bay regions. He returned to Florida in 2002 serv- The ACUSON Sequoia is also
Those who oppose MBI believe it does not ing in leadership positions at Cleveland Clinic in Weston and Parkway Medical equipped with AutoDoppler technology.
account for Florida’s unique position in Center in North Miami Beach. Grossman then joined Broward Health as CEO of Immediately upon freeze, AutoDoppler
Continued on page 16 Continued on page 11 Continued on page 25