Maggie (Host): This is BayCare HealthChat. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. Today we'll discuss BayCare's vision to grow the region's largest academic health system with our guest, Stephanie Conners, BayCare President, nurse, and CEO. Thank you for being here today, Stephanie.

Stephanie Conners: Maggie, thank you so much for having me.

Maggie (Host): Of course. Let's start with what drives BayCare's commitment to becoming the region's largest academic health system, and how does your collaboration with Northwestern Medicine support that vision?

Stephanie Conners: Our journey actually has been pretty remarkable. BayCare was founded nearly three decades ago, and we have remained focused on our mission, which is to improve the health of all we serve. So to do that, we need to ensure that we are in the forefront of medicine and setting standards for high quality, compassionate care.

Our result in our service excellence, our quality, and all of our outcomes are unmatched. But our relentless focus on our mission has fueled us to this evolution, which is this partnership with Northwestern Medicine .Our next step is really a representation of the final piece of our puzzle and the efforts to grow as an academic health system and really the foundation.

And the reason behind that is we believe that no patient should ever have to leave our community, let alone our state for care. So partnering with Northwestern Medicine provides access to not only that top tier academic expertise, but that brings that right here where individuals live, work, and desire to stay, and those innovative research capabilities will enable that even further.

Lastly what I'll share with you is our commitment to clinical excellence and community health is also unmatched. I like to challenge our leadership team by always considering the art of the possible, and to think big and bold as we navigate the future of health care. And it's not traditional and no one health care system has the answers.

So together we can improve the lives of all of our communities, and I feel very fortunate that we're partnered with Northwestern Medicine who shares our goals and values.

Maggie (Host): So why is now the right time for BayCare to strengthen its role in academic medicine?

Stephanie Conners: Really in our evolution around our health care landscape, we've steadily built the academic and research foundation. In fact, we're the fastest growing residency program in the country. In conjunction with the work that we're doing to ensure that we have the talent of the future. We have incredible providers and 33,000 plus strong team members that fuel our health system and their talent is unmatched.

So what we want to do is ensure that we're training the future right here in our communities so that we have the support that's necessary as generations move forward and are sicker and the sickest of the sick will be in the hospital, and those that need to be cared for in the community need those strong providers.

So the commitment around advancing our medical knowledge remains strong and it always has. But our deepened academic commitment on both medical education and research is strengthened by this partnership. Also, our goal to expand GME [graduate medical education] is pretty incredible because right now, not only are we the fastest growing, but I can quote some stats for you, which is we intend to have 650 residents by 2029.

And that really is an example of our commitment that equips us for the next generation of health care providers with the skills and the knowledge and the expertise that they need to excel.

The last thing I'll say on this question that you asked, as the region's largest academic health care provider now in West Central Florida, it's really important that I stress that we're not only among the fastest growing, but also that strong obligation that we feel to care for our community is maturing. And this infrastructure that we developed keeps our patients next to their families and in the community that they love.

Maggie (Host): How does academic medicine benefit patients, providers, and the community in today's health care environment?

Stephanie Conners: When you think about the future of medicine, and some of these things I will repeat in your questions because they do overlap in the importance of our obligation to advance medicine. It should be all providers’ obligations. There should never be an only in any situation in the community.

We are all obligated to deliver the highest standards of care, and that means advancing medicine, strong academics, ties to strong research and clinical trials, and this ensures that we have all of the advanced technologies right here in our community. And the goal, that I stated of no one should ever leave West Central Florida, let alone our state for care, is, I think a direct answer to your question.

We are world class. We already have extraordinary team members, and we're known as the best place to work, to receive care and to practice. Our outcomes are reflective of that and our safety and our service and our quality. But to really amplify that world-class care, we have to ensure that we develop into not only advanced tertiary, but quaternary because the sickest of the sick will be in the four walls of a hospital.

And we need to be equipped to ensure that not only are we predicting different advancements in medicine, but also the care that will be necessary for our aging populations. I use a phrase often that is: BayCare is committed to the first breath, to the last breath. We take care of individuals when they're born and when they leave our earth because we take care of all spectrums of careand as you develop and you age.

With that, as people get sicker and the community needs us, those advancements become even more important. So that greater access to specialized care is important, as well as earlier access to breakthrough treatments. All of this is constantly evolving, and through these partnerships, we stay at the forefront of medicine with groundbreaking steps towards providing fully integrated patient-centered care. So we're really excited about our journey and the importance of the work that we're doing.

Maggie (Host): It sounds like you have all the bases covered. You were talking about predicting and looking forward. What programs or initiatives can we expect to see as BayCare expands its academic medicine capabilities?

Stephanie Conners: As we continue to collaborate in the partnership with Northwestern Medicine, not only are we expanding our residency programs and our fellowship programs to train the next generation, the joint research efforts will evolve, and that's going to be important for our patients and treatment, and also the continuing education opportunities for our current health care professionals. That's important as well.

But really, ultimately, when you think about where we are today, we're in the building phase for the future. It goes back to traditional medicine versus being bold and thinking differently and really analyzing the possibilities. In the early stages of this collaboration, we're jointly planning not only educational and training opportunities, but all the advancements in medicine that our community deserves.

Maggie (Host): So how will BayCare's focus on academic medicine shape the future of health care in our region, particularly when it comes to research innovation and access to advanced treatments.

Stephanie Conners: When you think about the advancements in research and care delivery and education, there are heavy demands in our region, not only to train our existing leaders in this space, but to think of those non-traditional spaces. And that's going to be really important as medicine advances and by embedding the academics into our community,and into the largest health system in West Central Florida because that's what we're doing. We take care of the most patients, so it's the evolution of who we are. It'll drive the innovation. It'll attract top medical talent, stimulate the local economy by creating high skilled jobs and attracting investments in health care infrastructure.

We ultimately believe that West Central Florida deserves more access to academic medicine, and this collaboration will accelerate BayCare's trajectory as an academic health system. Not only to meet the needs of our patients now, but for many years to come. I'll end the statement with, we firmly believe in our vision and in our mission to improve the lives of all we serve.

But ultimately, we want to be there for all of our patients when they take their first breath until their last breath and the work that we're doing is going to ensure that they can live and thrive in our community and never have to leave us for care.

Maggie (Host): In closing, is there anything else you'd like to add?

Stephanie Conners: We're really thrilled to partner with one of the top health systems in the country in doing this work. And the only other thing I will add is we're all in this together. As we look at the populations, whether it's in the state of Florida or any other state, if we join together and move from traditional to non-traditional and we continue to think bold and the art of the possible, I can only imagine what's in our future in ensuring that our communities stay healthy and strong. So thank you for having me on this podcast and I look forward to future follow ups with all the great work that we'll be doing.

Maggie (Host): Absolutely. We look forward to hearing it. Thank you for sharing your expertise and vision for BayCare. Again, that's Stephanie Conners. To learn more, please visit BayCare.org/Academic and that wraps up this episode of BayCare HealthChat. Head on over to our website at BayCare.org for more information and to get connected with one of our providers.

Please remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all the other BayCare podcasts. For more health tips and updates, follow us on your social channels. If you found this podcast informative, please share on your social media and be sure to check out all the other interesting podcasts in our library.