We caught up with Ed Jimenez and asked him several questions for this edition of News+Notes. See how to submit your question at the bottom of the page.

During the Physician Customer Service is the Key Awards Luncheon, CEO Ed Jimenez visited with Lawrence Yeung, M.D., a UF College of Medicine urologist, who received four nominations.

You recently attended the Physician Customer Service is the Key Awards Luncheon. How did that event make you feel about our medical staff?

The work our physicians do here is phenomenal and hearing the stories and tributes from their patients and colleagues solidifies how highly we all think of them on both a personal and professional level. It was exhilarating to see that so many of the CSK awards included not only the amazing efforts of our physicians, but also the hard work and unwavering support of their teams. These anecdotes give me confirmation that we value collaboration — and that’s very rewarding.

LifeQuest and the transplant center are celebrating 50th anniversaries. What makes these teams special?

In the world of transplant and organ procurement, saving and extending lives is a daily occurrence. You look at what’s necessary to make it happen and it’s no one person or one team — it’s a whole lot of people working together. The work being done here is remarkable and awesome, and we’re thrilled our faculty and staff have helped so many patients. Here’s to another 50 years!

April marks one year since you were named permanent CEO. Have you had time to reflect?

I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to build on the foundation Tim Goldfarb put in place that is so important to us. I love that I’ve been able to spend more time with employees who are making a difference. Staff input is very important as we craft strategies and tactics to move forward. I am so proud of where we’ve been and where we’re going and feel very fortunate to be a part of it!

Everywhere you look UF Health is growing and improving. What does this say about us?

I think the most important thing the growth tells us is that we’re being responsive to our patients’ needs and we’re being thoughtful about our employees’ needs. When you think about where we’ve put many of these practices, it’s about being where our community needs and wants us to be. Then, when you look at what’s inside these buildings — how they flow, the technology that’s there — it’s about being very thoughtful to what our employees tell us they need to provide spectacular care. We’re working hard to be good stewards to our patients and good listeners for our employees.

How are we building on Hospitality & Service training?

Hospitality & Service training has reached approximately 11,500 faculty and staff members and we are now rolling out Hospitality Huddles. The huddles are brief stand-up meetings for staff who work together in a department or unit to discuss a specific standard of behavior for that month. Then they put it in practice and meet two weeks later to discuss what they’ve observed and learned. In October, we began a pilot program for the huddles in several inpatient and administrative areas as well as UF Health Physicians practices. All managers were asked to roll out Huddles in January and February, so now we’re on our way. Please help support this effort so we can make our work and care culture more consistent with excellent hospitality and patient-focused service.

Want to submit a question?
Email taylt@shands.ufl.edu and we’ll consider it for an upcoming edition.