When you hear about a homecoming, what comes to mind? A connection to family and friends, loyalty to your hometown or possibly the latest “hoco” proposal. For me, my homecoming to UF Health is definitely about connections and being in a place that feels right and comfortable.

I am a returner. I worked for the Marketing and Public Relations department at Shands HealthCare for more than six years, even experiencing the Y2K excitement along the way. I developed many great relationships and learned valuable lessons in that first foray into hospital/health care PR. And when a position recently became available on the UF Health Communications team, I jumped at the chance to be part of this system again.

During the interview process, I experienced such a sense of peace as I saw many familiar faces and got to interact with people I hadn’t seen in years. When the job offer came my way, it was an easy decision: I was coming home.

As with any homecoming, I quickly noticed a few things that were the same, but I was even more impressed with all of the differences … the integrated and cohesive leadership approach, the growth, the new facilities and the bells and whistles of an academic health center.

And I couldn’t have picked a better time to rejoin the organization as you were about to launch the new UF Health Heart & Vascular Hospital and UF Health Neuromedicine Hospital. It was a thrill to experience the grand opening events and see many friendly faces among my new colleagues. To hear the words, “We’re so glad you’re back,” made my day. This truly is a welcoming, supportive place to build your career.

Among my internal communications responsibilities is serving as editor for News+Notes. I’m excited to help guide your newsletter and look forward to sharing updates that show how we’re making this one of Indeed.com’s 2017 “Best Places to Work” as well as continuously improving the patient experience.

As a former employee who has found my way back, I couldn’t be more proud of how far we’ve come and where we’re going. I hope you feel the same way when you read our year in review/look ahead article. I look forward to an exciting 2018.