Spotlight
Transforming Healthcare
| USF Health
Photo courtesy of Lakeland Regional Medical Center
A new health system that will bring research and residents to area hospitals is set to design the future of healthcare in the region.
Created by USF Health, the USF Health System took its first step in the fall by announcing a partnership with Lakeland Regional Health Systems, Inc. The partnership will create about 200 to 250 new residency slots in West Central Florida, making USF's residency program the largest in the state.
The partnership allows other hospitals and physician groups to align with the medical college.
"Healthcare is in the middle of historic transformation," says Dr. Stephen Klasko, CEO of USF Health and dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. "We want to ensure that USF Health is driving that transformation rather than caught underneath it. By creating the USF Health System, we can create a future that includes top-quality patient care and greater economic stability for the entire region."
Lakeland Regional Health Systems, Inc. includes Lakeland Regional Medical Center, an 851-bed, nonprofit hospital. With 186,000 patient days, 3,500 births, and 38,000 inpatient discharges, it is the fifth largest hospital in Florida and is home to the state's largest single-site emergency department.
"Today, we have the distinct opportunity of combining our strong, high-quality healthcare system with the leading-edge medical education and research of USF. Quite simply, we are taking our excellent hospital and making it even better," says Elaine Thompson, president and CEO of Lakeland Regional Health Systems, Inc.
Thompson, who was recently named to the Becker's Hospital Review "100 Nonprofit Hospital, Health System CEOs to Know," will be CEO of the new USF Health System, while retaining her position as president and CEO for the hospital and its parent company.
In addition to better responding to the changing competitive landscape in the healthcare market, Klasko says the new USF Health System will increase the reach of academic medicine across West Central Florida.
Health experts expect changing economic conditions to produce a wave of consolidations and new affiliations among the nation's hospitals and physician groups. The new structure will allow USF Health, Lakeland Regional and other health institutions to maintain local control over Florida's health future.
"As the new USF Health System forms, we are hopeful to find partners across the state who are committed to designing an optimistic future with us," Klasko says.