Looking toward the future constitutes a wise practice for any business sector. For healthcare, it’s critical.
On May 5, 2011, industry leaders gathered for “Healthcare Facility of the Future,” a South Florida Healthcare Executive Forum educational program held at the College of Business Administration at Florida International University (FIU).
The event was hosted by the Health Management Programs—directed by Nancy Borkowski—in the Chapman Graduate School of Business. The South Florida Healthcare Executive Forum, the Florida Chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and the South Florida Chapter of the National Association of Health Services Executives co-sponsored the program.
“In a world of declining reimbursements and increasing demand, these are challenging times so the program was quite valuable,” Borkowski said.
The three-hour symposium explored the impact of new technology including electronic health records and new clinical diagnostics, as well as patient safety and quality patient-centered care, in designing new construction.
FIU alumnus Aurelio Fernandez (MHSA ’85, BBA ’74), CEO of Memorial Hospital Miramar, was among the 65 people attending this educational program and called it “excellent, very informative,” and said that even a CEO could learn new information.
“For instance, I learned I need to update some of my dollar-estimate information,” he said. “I had been using the $1M dollar per bed for construction costs but now realize the benchmark has moved to $1.5 to $2M per bed.”
Forum offers impressive lineup of panelists.
“A high caliber roster of people served as panelists,” said Stuart Podolnick, healthcare executive of Trane Commercial Systems, the program’s underwriter and presenting sponsor.
Panelists for session one, “Building the Hospital of Tomorrow: Rehabilitate, Renovate or Replace,” were Heather Rohan, CEO of Aventura Medical Center; Laura Rygielski Preston, vice president, Global Healthcare Practice for Trane/Ingersoll Rand; and Michael Hart, executive vice president of Harvard-Jolly Architecture.
Panelists for session two, “Sustaining a Financially Vibrant Healthcare Organization,” were Judy Sada, CFO of Memorial Hospital Miramar; Thinh Tran, corporate vice president, Baptist Health South Florida; and Kim Griffin-Hunter, CPA and partner, Deloitte & Touche.
Jaime Caldwell, vice president of the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association, moderated the symposium.
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