2 min read December 2021 — HCA Florida Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville strives to set itself apart from other health systems with an emphasis on feedback from the community and deeply supportive compassion for patients and staff. “Jacksonville will give you everything you put into it, so it is important to get involved and get connected,” CEO and President Bradley Talbert told Invest:, while discussing the hospital’s initiatives and the mental health needs of patients and employees.
What are some of the key initiatives and programs that help Memorial Hospital best serve the community?
We do a lot of research to support our initiatives. Frankly, it often starts with a group; be it a community or advocacy group, physicians, or internal staff. If they identify a need that is not being met, we will take a look at that opportunity. An example is our extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program. We are going to be one of the only hospitals to offer ECMO across the board for the entire community. For most hospitals, it is a highly selective process. The numbers bear out that there is a need in Jacksonville. A good many patients who needed ECMO, especially during the pandemic, had to be transferred out of the city. We have been planning for implementation with a strong interdisciplinary team for six to eight months, providing rigorous training, case studies and trial runs. For identification of other needs and/or opportunities, we have empirical evidence that demonstrates the need and we have a significant amount of proprietary resources to evaluate markets for specific conditions and service lines. We also partner with several external firms to acquire specific data.
What have you seen in regard to mental health with your patients and employees?
We have a 41-bed psychiatric service line and have seen an increased need for psychiatric, behavioral and mental health services. On the outpatient side, we have seen an increased need for counseling. I will take it one step further and link the opioid crisis with that. We are actively involved as a stakeholder, bringing awareness to opioid addiction and providing Jacksonville with access to assistance and help for people brought to the emergency room. There is an opioid task force in the city that is facilitated through the Chamber of Commerce to reduce addiction and increase awareness. We just held an Opioid Takeback Day where we took hundreds of pounds of opioid medications off the streets and disposed of them in a safe and proper way.
Regarding the mental health of our staff, we are now starting to see burnout as COVID has declined. Calling our team heroes is great but it does not touch the value our staff have provided this community. The energy is wearing off and the mental health concerns are popping up more. It speaks to the trauma our colleagues have witnessed on the frontlines every day. We have set up and enhanced a number of pastoral care and employee assistance programs. We have provided coaching with our leaders so they know what symptoms to look out for. We want our colleagues to know we care about them equally and that they have access to the services they need to care for themselves.
What advice would you give to someone looking to start a business or invest in Jacksonville?
Jacksonville will give you everything you put into it, so it is important to get involved and get connected. I am on the board of the Chamber of Commerce and serve with my time voluntarily because this is my city and it is my obligation to help make the city better. I encourage people to get engaged with community organizations and business groups. The second thing is to make sure you have assessed talent attraction before you open your business. Look at the secondary education opportunities here and communicate with those higher education leaders. They can be made aware of the needs of your company and connect them to academic opportunities for students.
For more information, visit:
