As the population increases, the need for medical services also increases.
Recent acquisition of Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine university health This represents an increased focus on Northeast Florida’s consistent population growth and associated health care needs.
Carlton DeVooght, president and CEO of UF Health St. Johns, said the combination with Flagler Health created a positive presence, especially in southern St. Johns County.
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UF Health and baptist health Both companies are focused on the medical needs of Northeast Florida and have plans to expand throughout the region.
“We’re seeing a lot of growth in St. Johns County, especially in northwestern St. Johns County. This is part of our mission, and what community-based health organizations do is and bring it as close to people’s lives as possible,” said Kathryn Graham, Baptist Health’s senior vice president.
Graham said Baptist has more than 200 locations, including five community-based hospitals, the area’s only children’s hospital (Wolfson Hospital in San Marcos) and 11 primary care offices in St. Johns County. It is said that the location is included.
“When you think about where to put an acute care hospital, you have to be very thoughtful, very strategic, and consider the needs of the community,” Graham said.
Expansion of community-based care
While St. Johns County’s growth is concentrated in the north, DeVoto said, “We’re still seeing significant growth in the St. Augustine area.”
“There’s a clear need for health care in the northern part of the county,” he said. “When you place a family doctor in a part of the community, it typically takes him six to nine months to fill up the clinic. Recently, he has added a clinic in north St. John’s that takes less than two months to fill. It’s full.”
Plans for the St. Augustine campus include renovations to the operating rooms and surgery center. Construction is also expected to begin on a hospital at the Durbin campus in St. Johns County by the end of December. Construction is expected to take 24 months from the time construction begins until the first patient appears.
DeVoto said the expansion plan takes into account data related to overall demographics, population growth and out-migration from ZIP codes across the region. This allows health systems to see the historical needs of their communities and plan for the future.
“The people of St. Johns County, especially northern St. Johns County, are healthy,” Graham said. “They have a need and a preference for primary care and preventive care.”
All development plans focus on “good aging,” she said.
Michael Mayo, president and CEO of Baptist Health, said everything from birth and child care to senior care and geriatric care is about “end of life.”
Mayo said the need for clinics is growing because areas like St. Johns County have a “mix of young, healthy people” as well as children and the elderly.
“The question is not, “Where is the population growing?” but “Where should we be based?” ‘ he said. “We don’t want to duplicate services. We’re being smart about the services we offer.”
Graham said this is why they are building a standalone emergency department for immediate care, focusing on seniors in two 23-acre Del Webb communities: Nocatee and Silverleaf.
It will probably be about two years before the move there begins, but women’s and children’s health care is starting to happen there, she said.
“We will continue to look at primary care and expand primary care,” she said. “We are always enabling growth.”
combat workforce issues
Patrick Green, CEO and president of UF Health Jacksonville, pointed to growth not only in local medical facilities but also in the employment sector.
“We are focused on increasing demand for our services,” he said. “We are focused on being an economic generator for the region. Jacksonville’s population continues to grow; [and] The people who move and grow here need comprehensive health services…which ultimately depends on the needs of the population and the community. ”
Graham said Baptist Health is “not in a rush to open facilities” because it is keen to understand the region and the availability of labor and support staff is “one of the real limiting factors.” He also said that there is.
“Our pace is not about building,” she said. “Our pace is, ‘Can we provide the kinds of services that the data shows us and that the community wants?'” Most important is workforce availability. We need to continue to really focus on why people want to work with Baptist Health in these settings. ”
According to one study, Florida’s population is projected to grow to 25.34 million people in 2033. Florida Hospital Association ReportThe projected average increase from April 2024 to April 2028 is approximately 817 people per day.
However, Florida’s medical vacancy rate is 3 percentage points lower than the national rate, according to the report. Additionally, the state’s turnover rate is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, indicating the industry’s workforce is healthy.
Mayo, who serves on the boards of national and state hospital associations, said recruiting and retaining medical staff “is a top priority at the national, local and state levels.”
“What we’re trying to do is create an environment and a culture that people want to work in,” he said. “I think that’s what attracts people to our organization.”
According to the FHA report, hospitalizations increased by just 3% from 2019 to 2022, but factors such as overtime, incentives, premium pay, and salary market share adjustments drove overall labor costs disproportionately to 45%. % increase.
In a competitive job market, this trend is likely to continue, especially with so many facilities and openings emerging in Northeast Florida.
“To work in health care, you have to put the patient first, but you also have to put the people who serve the patient first,” Green said.
As the region continues to grow, the need for quality health care workers will also grow, he said.
