Workscapes Contribution to the 11th Annual Tampa Bay Healthcare Symposium

Last week was the 11^th Annual Tampa Bay Healthcare Symposium, put on by the American Institute of Architects of Tampa Bay. Workscapes very own Steven Zanetos is on the board for this event, and this year, CEO Elizabeth Dvorak lead a breakout group with one of the panelists, Everett Simmons from Moffitt Cancer Center. This event is targeted to healthcare design and construction and included thought-leaders from around the country complemented by local healthcare representation.

The theme for this year’s event was Tampa Bay Healthcare State of the Systems, focusing on the past years changes and lessons learned in the Tampa Bay healthcare’s-built environment. Other panelists alongside Everett Simmons included representatives from some of the top Tampa Bay healthcare systems, such as Tamara Rice with Tampa General Hospital, Dave Kistel with Lee Health, Deana Nelson with Lakeland Regional Health, Jordan Smith with Advent Health, and Guillermo Ramos with BayCare.

Panelists had the opportunity to share their response to the pandemic and its influence on the future vision for their organizations. The symposium served as a great place for local general contractors, architects, designers, and engineers in healthcare to be educated and updated on current trends. Among the topics discussed were telehealth, technology, futureproofing healthcare campuses, trends within mental health such as the lack of funding and the shocking statistic that 61% of those suffering from mental health issues go untreated, the implications of removing the Certificate of Need such as increased access to expand to more underserved communities. Other topics covered were diversity equity and inclusion, retrofitting existing spaces, inventory management and control, and creating elastic, adjustable spaces (for more on this, check out our recent blog on why an elastic interior is crucial to tackle the changing needs of your workspace here).

In the breakout group, Everett Simmons from Moffit Cancer Center also discussed how due serving a largely immune-compromised patient base, there were already infection prevention procedures in place prior to the pandemic. The transition of protocols during COVID-19 wasn’t as large of an undertaking, noting the main changes in procedure were primarily aimed at contractors and not full-time staff.

With the best of the Tampa Bay healthcare system sharing lessons learned from the pandemic, those in attendance will be much better equipped for future crisis.

Categorized in: Work

This post was written by Scott