Put Patients Before Profits: Protect Our Safety Net Hospitals

For decades, the most vulnerable Floridians have depended on the state’s safety net hospitals to save their lives and care for their health. Each year, these hospitals care for large numbers of low-income children, sick babies, senior citizens and pregnant women. Safety net hospitals provide a critical public service that the state has historically supported with vital funding.

Now, Florida’s for-profit hospitals want to raid $318 million in state tax dollars that goes to help these safety net hospitals care for those who need help the most. Hospitals owned by out-of-state corporations want to pad their profits with tax dollars that have long been used to safeguard Floridians’ health. These hospitals are asking the state Senate to risk the lives of our vulnerable residents in order to pump up their stock prices.

We respectfully ask our senators to consider our perspective that this is bad policy: If the for-profits get their way, the impact on the safety net hospitals would be devastating. For Tampa General Hospital, the largest hospital in the region serving those most in need, it would mean additional cuts of $14.4 million.

To continue reading the full column in the Tampa Bay Times, please click here.

Balancing Act

As I approach my three-month anniversary at Tampa General Hospital, I have barely had any time to take a breath and reflect on my new role. In many ways, it feels like I have been here for years, but in others, it seems like I am just in my first week.  You see, I have divided my time between immersing myself in the organization—listening and learning—and diving in to solve problems, facing the challenges head on.

You might recall, back when I first announced my move toTampa,  I discussed my first priority on arrival was to spend a significant amount of time listening. My goal was to listen to team members, to physicians, to patients and community members and to learn from them. I wanted to immerse myself in all levels of the organization and in its culture in order to truly understand all aspects of the hospital from its successes to its challenges. As I stated back then, I believe wholeheartedly that in order to lead effectively you must listen and learn.

To a large extent, I have been able to spend my time as planned. I have been rounding, spending time with transport, in ICU, in the main operating suite, on the oncology floor and more, working alongside our nurses, techs and entire team. I have been focused on working my way through the hospital, listening, observing and learning. I have learned so much in the short amount of time I have been part of the TGH team and am more impressed than ever with the dedication and talent of my team, our physicians, our board members and our community as they come together to deliver world-class health care to the region.

But like many things in life, this job is a balancing act—developing a team and helping to shape an organization while bobbing and weaving through the challenges and day to day issues that arise. I have come to realize that it is not only through listening but also managing the new issues and challenges that come up each day, that I learn just as much about the organization—the intricacies and nuances of a complex hospital system as well as about my team—their capabilities, their approach to their work and their colleagues. The last three months have taught me to see every moment as a learning experience, and appreciate the blend of working alongside the team and managing from the helm. This has allowed for a 360-degree view of the organization.

So when in your career and you find yourself taking on a new role, it is good to listen and soak up as much as you can from day one. Get insight and perspective from your colleagues and sit back, when appropriate, and hear what they have to say.  But I have learned it is also just as valuable to get in the thick of things as soon as you can and work with your team on moving the ball forward. In other words, some days you will need to wade into the water and splash around and other days you will need to dive in and swim as fast as you can.