Q&A WITH ED JIMENEZ
Why families choose UF Health for their children’s care
UF Health Shands CEO Ed Jimenez answers questions in each issue of News+Notes, the newsletter for staff who provide and support patient care in the UF Health Shands hospital system. This month, we’re highlighting children’s services.
What would you like our faculty and staff to know about children’s health care at UF Health?
Not everyone realizes the regional nature of our pediatric services. The families with children in our hospital often travel a great distance to be here. I’m a parent and I put myself in their shoes. If you were to get the news that your child needed serious medical attention, you’d want to go to the best place, not just the closest or second-best place, for help. You’d also drive hours if needed. Our patients travel for the expertise and caring of the very best providers, our colleagues. Our goal is to be the regional children’s hospital destination for families in crisis — we’re here to help.
What makes our pediatric care exceptional?
There’s an AT&T commercial with the theme, “Just OK is not OK.” When you need the very best medical care, just OK isn’t enough. We offer outstanding care. That’s why families trust us, choose our doctors and nurses, rely on our research and innovation, and talk about us the way they do and become ambassadors. And I love the way our staff talk about their work — the pride and enthusiasm of our pediatrics faculty and staff is inspiring.*
We have physician-scientists advancing research that leads to innovative care in children’s brain tumor immunotherapy … We have incredible survival rates for children with congenital heart defects … The U.S. News & World Report national rankings of the Best Children’s Hospitals place UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital in multiple specialties annually. It’s awesome, what we have going on here, as one of the nation’s top kids’ hospitals.
Jimenez also posts regularly on the Bridge intranet, so check out “Leaders Online” and “Leadership Status Updates” on the Bridge.UFHealth.org homepage.
*Visit the Bridge homepage and type “2019 Nurses Week video” to see several of our nursing colleagues from pediatrics and other specialties share their passion.
