The case competition took place at Holy Cross Hospital, Ft. Lauderdale on Friday, April 12, 2019. This year featured 7 teams with a total of about 29 students from undergraduate and graduate health management and administration programs in 5 local South Florida universities facilitated by the support from their respective program advisors. These universities are members of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Higher Education Network (HEN).

 

Ashley Vertuno, FACHE, the Chief Operating Officer of Westside Regional Medical Center- HCA, the ACHE Regent for Florida – Eastern, and who also served as one of the mentors to one of the participating teams said “I couldn’t be more proud of all the teams. This competition really shows the next generation of leaders and has me excited for their future and ours in the healthcare profession.”

 

The award ceremony was held on April 18, 2019 at Memorial Regional Hospital, Hollywood- Memorial Healthcare System (MHS). In the graduate division, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winners and 3rd runner-up are Florida International University Healthcare MBA program: Brian Luis, Stephany Silva and Shayan Amirzadeh-Shams; Florida Atlantic University Health Administration program: Tyler Friedman, Eric Isaacson, Kimberly León, Hussein Dawad and Brianna Taggart; Barry University Health Services Administration & Public Health program: Oladapo Durojaiye, Ibrahim Asiri, Natalie Arnejo , Xiance Holas and Nortrivah Hill; and in its inaugural year, University of Miami Health Management and Policy program: Lucas Outcault, Jenna Kaminsky, Jamie Port, Brianna Devore and Paola Trujillo, respectively.

 

In the undergraduate division, 1st, 2nd, 3rd place winners are the University of Miami Health Management and Policy program: Lauren LaRosa, Helen Kattoura, Sahana Shankar, Nathaniel Cleri and Caroline Smolkin; in its inaugural year, Keiser University Health Service Administration program: Estefania Gerard Eustache, Shareema Pearson and Rashanda Pratt; and Florida Atlantic University, Health Administration program: Enrico “Rico” Peuguero, Gabrielle Webb and Nicole St. Jean, respectively. The teams were awarded both monetary and non-monetary prizes.

 

The ceremony was part of SFHEF’s monthly educational program. The educational event, titled “Mapping Your Career,” included a panel of healthcare organization leaders: Caitlin Beck Stella, MPH, CEO, Joe Dimaggio Children’s Hospital, MHS; Jonathan Watkins, CEO, Broward Health Imperial Point; Madison Workman, COO, Coral Gables Hospital and Ralph Rios, FACHE, Vice President, Professional Services, Baptist Health South Florida. The event was a great complement to the theme of healthcare professional and leadership development reflected by participation in the case competition.

 

Oyinkansola “Bukky” Ogunrinde, MHSA, Chief Practice Transformation Officer of FUNMI Healthcare Consulting and the 2019 Student Services chair of the SFHEF board of directors said “It is amazing to witness the growth and impact the case competition events have had over the years. The participants develop and enhance valuable skills such as critical and analytical thinking, strategic planning, accountability, teamwork, resourcefulness, problem-solving and leadership. Also, I am grateful for the unwavering support of the 2019 SFHEF board of directors and the organization’s sponsors.”

 

The case competition allows students to work together in teams over the course of 3 months, every spring, on a specified case study. The topic changes each year to reflect the latest issues and challenges confronting the healthcare industry. This year, the focus was a case study about Aetna and the transformation of healthcare. The students were charged with developing substantive and effective recommendations to the important considerations given the foreseeable acquisition of Aetna by CVS. They were judged by the following subject matter expert judges: Amadeo Cabral MD MBA FACS CHCQM, Board – certified Surgical Oncologist & Robotic surgeon and Chief Strategy Officer/Senior Vice President at Orange Care Group (ACO); Monica Puga, ARNP, Vice President, Population Health at MHS; and Paul Bruning, DHA, Executive Director for Orthopedics & Occupational Health at Holy Cross Hospital.

 

The student teams are partnered with liaisons and mentors who are executives from various healthcare organizations- a distinguishing format of the program which was designated a best practice by both ACHE and the Association of University Public Health Administration (AUPHA). This year, there were 7 liaisons, 4 mentors and a committee of 7 people to help facilitate the case competition.

 

Charles Felix, the 2019 SFHEF president said “We look forward to the 18th annual case competition and appreciate the support from the community of healthcare organizations and leaders through active membership participation in SFHEF, and by way of specific support of the SFHEF Foundation.” The foundation, a 501c3 entity of the chapter, was established for the purpose of continuing to develop the healthcare leaders of tomorrow through educational events and programs like the SFHEF Healthcare Leader Development Case Competition.