Ana Mederos blends her life experiences – professional, personal, national and international- as recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah. She draws on her professional accomplishments (both in clinical and operational roles) as an experienced health care executive in hospital management in Central America and the United States, and her personal accomplishments as a wife and mother of two grown sons, to enhance her management style. She plans to create and maintain a supportive environment to ensure quality in delivering health care and in building working relationships with physicians and employees.
She assumes her new CEO role with a full plate. Topping her agenda is oversight of the soon-to-open expanded cardiac surgery service in addition to the recent multi-million dollar expansion and renovation of the hospitals Emergency Department, Maternity Care Center, Critical Care Unit and Surgery Department.
“Palmetto General Hospital has a proud tradition of health care delivery,” Mederos said, “and now we can better serve our aging, longer- living population with a full range of heart care including open heart surgery, updated diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac catheterization, new heart-dedicated operating rooms and expert nurses”
Mederos, 50, was born in Cuba and immigrated to the United States at eleven years of age with her parents. She is a registered nurse with an associates degree from Miami-Dade College; earned a bachelors degree in health care administration from Florida International University; and, a masters degree in business administration from Nova Southeastern University. She credits her unique blend of clinical and managerial skills coupled with knowledgeable experience in the South Florida health care, for her open management style.
“Hospitals are complex, highly regulated organizations and it is far too easy to work with blinders within our own areas of expertise, I believe my clinical background benefits my understanding of the interdependence of all hospital staff and also allow me to highlight the clinical benefits when administering budget costs for experts and technology needed to provide optimal care.
Commenting on trends in health care, Mederos cites the importance of Tenets efforts to combat nursing and medical staff shortages through support of university scholarship programs and tuition reimbursement to encourage staff to continue their education.
“It is in everyones best interests that we make health care an inviting and invigorating career for future generations,” she said.
According to Mederos, employee satisfaction is key to physician satisfaction and good health care. “As managers we must not only compensate staff fairly but request their input, listen to their issues and recognize their contributions,” she said. “Information technology has certainly revolutionized health care, but it is still the human touch which delivers the compassion. ”
Mederos theory of customer satisfaction is based on management by walking around. “I make a point to visit on the floors and find things that I can help fix with a phone call or a signature. I believe an honest, balanced response to a problem is the best medicine,” she concluded.
Mederos has served as CEO at two Tenet hospitals in South Florida, most recently at Hialeah Hospital and, prior to that, at North Shore Medical Center. Before joining Tenet in 2001, Mederos served as chief operating officer of Cedars Medical Center and chief nursing officer of Victoria Hospital, both located in Miami.
Palmetto General Hospital, part of Tenets hospital network in South Floridas Miami-Dade and Broward counties, is a 360-bed acute-care hospital, offering a broad range of services, including adult and pediatric emergency rooms. The hospital has been named one of Americas 100 Top Hospitals six times by Solucient, an independent health care research firm. The hospital was also honored in 2006 with the prestigious Tenet Circle of Excellence award for outstanding performance.
Ana Mederos blends her life experiences – professional, personal, national and international- as recently appointed Chief Executive Officer of Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah. She draws on her professional accomplishments (both in clinical and operational roles) as an experienced health care executive in hospital management in Central America and the United States, and her personal accomplishments as a wife and mother of two grown sons, to enhance her management style. She plans to create and maintain a supportive environment to ensure quality in delivering health care and in building working relationships with physicians and employees. 
