Officials at Baptist Medical Center Nassau recently announced the addition of a 30,000-square-foot surgery center to the hospital for 2017, and now a new president has joined the facility as well.
A 21-year veteran of Baptist Health, Ed Hubel took the reins of the hospital last week.
“I’m a firm believer, if you’re going to lead a hospital, you need to be in the community,” he said last week during an interview on his first day of the job. “I want to keep everything I do within the community I serve.”
“People are still evaluating us on five years past or even 20 years ago. I hope I can begin to change that mindset,” he said.
“Some of that begins with community involvement. We are going to be the primary sponsor of the Shrimp Festival this year, and that’s important because we want the community to know we are here,” he said.
“First and foremost, my priority is patient-centered,” Hubel emphasized.
“These first 90 days, I’m doing an evaluation. … I’m looking for safe, quality care. I’m looking for the patient-family experience,” he explained.
Hubel said he will hear the community’s input through a variety of channels, beginning with meeting patients face-to-face.
“I do patient rounds. It’s not often happened in health care that the president does patient rounds. I’m not afraid to talk to the individual. I would want to know because everybody’s experience is different. The patient survey – that’s going to get back to me. They can call and tell me. I’m out in the community, and I’m going to hear it,” he said.
“The community is growing and because the community is growing, the hospital needs to adjust and grow with the community. I think what demonstrates that the most is our most recent program offerings,” Hubel said and began ticking off Baptist Nassau’s recent successes.
For instance, the Nassau County hospital now offers an in-house program for patients recovering from a cardiac event. Located on the main hospital campus in Medical Office Building B, the facility is a 2,600-square-foot center with an array of cardiovascular and strength equipment for heart patients to regain their health.
In addition, Hubel said the hospital recently partnered with the Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute and recruited a doctor who can perform “total joint replacements.”
“You don’t have to have your hip replaced downtown anymore,” he said.
Hubel also said that a sleep center, formerly located in the brick Lime Street building that will be demolished to make way for the new surgery center, has been moved into the hospital.
“Those are luxurious suites up there,” he said.
While Baptist Nassau cannot handle every medical problem, Hubel said the hospital can now better diagnose patients before transferring them for care.
In addition, Hubel said the hospital now has six hospitalists who offer 24/7 coverage of the 64-bed facility.
The new president also pointed out that technology continues to play an ever-expanding role in health care and that Baptist Nassau has some of the latest available.
“You’re dealing with a high level of technology that’s rapidly changing care. For example, traditional surgery used to be open surgery. Everybody knew what open surgery was. Then it went to laparoscopic, and that really turned into minimally invasive ... You’ve got to be able to adjust, be flexible, manage that because you want to provide the most optimal (care),” he said.
“For example if you want to have hernia surgery, would you want to go to someone who does it open or would you like to have a minimally invasive technique and that way you’re back on your feet in a week versus being out for several weeks and not have a scar, basically?” Hubel explained.
“If we don’t have that here in Nassau County, then we’re not offering our community what is needed,” he said.
Hubel said he is also looking to the future as development continues across Nassau County. Specifically, he mentioned evaluating the coming needs in the Interstate 95 corridor, where Wildlight is being built.
“We are continually evaluating community needs and locations. We are looking at how we establish a presence (at Wildlight). I do want the community to know we’re constantly evaluating and what are the appropriate needs to be met. When I talk about Nassau County, I talk about the entire county,” Hubel said.
Specifically mentioning women’s health, Hubel said additional services are coming to Nassau but declined to provide further information. He said he would “when the time is right.”