- November 29, 2024
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Leader gives state-of-the-hospital address.
Wayne Grant
News Editor
Daryl Tol, tall and looking too young to be CEO of five Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties, stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows on the 12th floor of Florida Hospital Medical Center.
The windows provide a panoramic view of the surrounding communities.
“You can see it from here,” he said. “We need to get out of the walls and out into the communities.”
Tol described how the health care picture is changing in a “state-of-the-hospital” address on July 8 to invited community leaders and hospital supporters.
At one time, Tol said, hospitals were in remote towers, and would treat people only if they could get there. Today, he said, Florida Hospital is reaching out to the community to be more involved in their lives “from cradle to grave.”
“That’s why we’re doing things like partnering with the Speedway,” he said. “We want to be where the community works and plays every day.” Last year, the health system signed an agreement with Daytona International Speedway to sponsor an entrance and have a presence at the track.
The new approach to health care is to provide care and monitor people so they can avoid hospital stays through initiatives such as Florida Hospital Community Care, a partnership with Bethune-Cookman University, where students are trained to be health coaches and help the hospital’s clinical team, including a registered nurse, social worker, dietician, and counselor, monitor patients. Tol gave an example of a woman was on 28 medications. She was so confused, she just took them randomly. Through the program, the hospital got her on the correct dosage.
Those attending also heard about new technology and plans at the hospital, such as the expanded Wellness Center.
“It’s not going to be just a gym, it’s going to be a gym on steroids,” said John Olivari, chairman of the Florida Hospital Memorial Foundation, the nonprofit corporation that administers charitable donations to the health system.
“It’s going to be a world-class facility,” said Howard Perch, administrator of Florida Hospital Oceanside and director of rehabilitation. “It’s going to be open to the public and we expect 2,000 members in the first year.”
It will include wellness programs, nutritional counseling, personal training and weight-management classes. Construction is expected to start in 30 days.
Also highly anticipated at the hospital is a move up to Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit birth care center, after receiving certification from the Health Care Administration. Currently, about 1,500 babies are delivered at the hospital each year.
A Level II NICU is equipped with incubators, ventilators, and other specialized equipment for care of infants that have problems, such as being premature, not eating well, or having respiratory difficulties. The center will have suites so that parents will be able to stay overnight with their babies and it is expected to be ready mid-2016.
One of the technical advances shown off at the event is a new surgical technique called TAVR, which stands for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement. For older people who cannot tolerate open-heart surgery, the aortic valve is placed by inserting it into a through an artery in the patient’s upper leg.
