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The past 12 months have delivered great successes and support for Jupiter Medical Center’s mission to transform health care across our region. I must start by emphasizing that none of this would be possible without our talented physicians, team members and leadership, who defy the status quo on a daily basis. They embrace our culture, which challenges each to maintain world-class quality and safety standards; achieve cost control and, most importantly, deliver health care in a truly authentic and thoughtful way.
Culture is the glue that holds organizations together. While developing a winning culture takes continuous work and nurturing, its importance should not be underestimated. We’re also fortunate to be supported by generous donors, whose investments in Jupiter Medical Center make an incalculable impact on our community.
In 2016, Jupiter Medical Center received a $25 million donation, the largest gift ever to the hospital, which will go toward a new Comprehensive Cancer Institute. The donation came just months after another landmark accomplishment. The February opening of the De George Pediatric Unit was the result of the joint efforts of the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation, the Lawrence J. & Florence A. De George Charitable Trust, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and Jupiter Medical Center, a team that came together to ensure local families have access to the highest quality pediatric care.
The unit is clearly meeting a need; more than 300 patients have been cared for in the inpatient unit since its opening and our pediatric emergency department (ED) visits increased by 20 percent. We recently introduced cardiac and continuous oxygen monitoring, and implemented intermediate care guidelines so we can care for higher acuity patients. Plans are now under way to build a dedicated section of the ED for pediatric patients; a project partially funded by a $1 million donation by Honda Classic Cares and the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation.
Collaboration with other leading health care institutions is central to our strategy to add breadth and depth to our service offerings. In 2016, we deepened our affiliation with Mount Sinai Heart New York. We conducted joint conferences to enable knowledge sharing among physicians at both institutions. We’ve collaborated in the care of patients, participated in new clinical trials, increased cardiac catheterizations by 51 percent and opened a Mount Sinai Heart New York physician practice in the hospital to ensure continuity of care from the physicians’ office, through diagnostics, intervention and rehabilitation.
In addition, we laid new plans to work together in oncology and digestive health. It’s all about combining Jupiter Medical Center’s technology and the expertise of the physicians already working in this community with the knowledge and capabilities established at the Mount Sinai Health System over a century of practicing medicine.
We’ve built on our collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness by offering our community proven mind-body therapies to improve health and wellbeing. In 2017, we’ll open the Calcagnini Center for Mindfulness, a 2,700 square-foot space for patients and providers dedicated to healing and to health.
The year saw technological upgrades at Jupiter Medical Center. The installation of telehealth technology allows pediatric physicians in our ED and IPU to consult with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital physicians in real time. State-of-the-art Tru-D infection control robots helped make us a leader in preventing hospital-acquired infections.
In recognition of our outstanding safety record, The Leapfrog Group, a health care watchdog, awarded Jupiter Medical Center an ‘A’ for patient safety. We also earned a four-star rating from CMS, which places Jupiter Medical Center in the top 10 percent of hospitals in Florida and the top 20 percent nationwide. Jupiter Medical Center is the only hospital in the Palm Beach and Martin Counties to currently hold both these achievements.
As I’ve stated, providing world-class health care is a team effort. This year, the Jupiter Medical Center Foundation launched a campaign to raise $300 million to meet the growing demand for advanced cancer care, comprehensive stroke and cardiac services and expanded pediatric care. The campaign is off to a remarkable start; $41 million was raised in the first year. It is this generosity and community-mindedness that inspires us as we move into 2017.
