With Americas attention squarely focused on the quality and sustainability of its healthcare system, one of South Floridas largest providers of comprehensive care is reshaping its identity and refocusing its methods of delivering care. Miami Jewish Home and Hospital announced that it is changing its name to Miami Jewish Health Systems (MJHS) and unveiled a new direction for its system-wide provision of care. The shift, which comes as MJHS embarks on its seventieth year in operation, reflects the nonprofit’s proactive efforts to diversify its services, respond to changing patient demands and expectations, enhance its care giving, and strengthen its service delivery.
“As Miami Jewish Health Systems continues to grow and evolve, we are constantly working to identify new areas for growth,” said Jeffrey P. Freimark, Chief Executive Officer of MJHS. “With patient attitudes and demographics shifting and the cost of maintaining high standards of care rising, traditional models of care are becoming increasingly unsustainable. While Washington debates healthcare reform, we are taking action seizing this opportunity as the ideal time to expand and invest in programs that will ensure we can provide high quality care to our community going forward.” Founded in 1940 as a 23-bed nursing home, MJHS treats some 3,700 people daily through its on-campus medical, residential, and community-based programs. About 3,000 of those patients receive their care each day through MJHS’s community-based “nursing home diversion programs,” which are designed to keep patients out of nursing homes and in the community. As Freimark commented, “Our organization works just as hard to keep patients out of nursing homes as we do when caring for patients who do require care in one of our facilities.” With patients demanding more independence in their daily lives and more control over their healthcare decisions, MJHS is expanding its community-based programs, including PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), Channeling, and Project Independence at Home, all of which are proving effective in improving care, enhancing patients’ daily lives, and reducing the cost of caring for these patients. Complementing MJHS’s community-based services is a full-suite of unique programs on the organizations Miami campus, including the Rosomoff Comprehensive Pain Center, Brucker Biofeedback Center, the Memory Center at Douglas Gardens, and the largest Medicare Rehabilitation Center in Miami-Dade County. These “Centers of Excellence,” which draw patients from across the nation and around the world, aim to transform the lives of patients suffering from chronic pain, neuromuscular disorders, and memory loss, regardless of their age. MJHSs new name signals a renewed focus on the systems full breadth of services while reflecting the founding principles of the organization. For the last seventy years, in accordance with the Jewish values of dignity and respect, MJHS has committed to providing quality, innovative, comprehensive care that is based on research and education, according to Stephen H. Cypen, Chairman of the MJHS Executive Board of Directors.