GATORCARE LOOKS TO THE FUTURE
Jill Sumfest, M.D., and William McCarty, M.D., discuss Esprit de Corps and Wellness Solutions
The future looks bright for GatorCare, the direct service organization that was established to reduce health care costs and promote access to quality health care and innovative health and wellness solutions for the employees of UF, UF Health Shands and UF affiliates.
With more than 41,000 members, GatorCare plays a huge role behind the scenes to ensure employees have access to programs with health and wellness benefits. Supporting the group’s mission is a tall order for the GatorCare team so they were excited to have a new person join the ranks.
Billy McCarty, M.D., M.B.A. is the medical director of GatorCare.
On Nov. 1, Billy McCarty, M.D., M.B.A., became the new medical director of GatorCare.
Previously serving as the regional medical director for Tampa-based Optum, McCarty has an extensive background in working with a large network of doctors and neighborhood physician practices with a primary care focus.
The timing of McCarty beginning his career with GatorCare as Veterans Day neared was serendipitous as the leaders of GatorCare, McCarty and Jill Sumfest, M.D., M.S., FACS, president of GatorCare, both served their country.
“Earlier this year, GatorCare conducted a nationwide search for a medical director as part of succession planning. I’m pleased that Dr. Billy McCarty, a talented physician executive who has leadership experience in hospital and provider organizations in the military and civilian practice, accepted the position,” Sumfest said.
Before serving as regional medical director for Optum, McCarty had a 30-year career with the U.S. Navy. Since McCarty was commissioned in 1986 as a surface warfare officer, he completed three deployments and six shore assignments before retiring from Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California, as the Chief Medical Officer and the head of the Department of Pediatrics. McCarty received his doctorate of medicine at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences while serving in the U.S. Navy.
Jill Sumfest, M.D., M.S., FACS, is the president of GatorCare.
Sumfest served in the U.S. Army Reserves for 13 years. Serving in the U.S. Army provided her with the opportunity to go to medical school and gain a wide range of experience in leadership and surgical training. After graduating from Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, she spent five years in San Francisco, California, completing her general surgery training at Letterman Army Medical Center and another four years in Fort Benning at Army Medical Hospital in Columbus, Georgia.
“There are several aspects of military medicine that are unique in the delivery of health care,” McCarty said. “First and foremost, is in service to our country.”
The esprit de corps, or spirit of the body, that comes from McCarty’s experiences, ingrains the principles of mission, duty to others, accountability and selflessness. These principles have guided and sustained his journey in health care and in life.
With extensive military backgrounds, McCarty and Sumfest share similar medical experiences as well as a vision of evolving and expanding GatorCare.
“Emotional health is what keeps coming back as the biggest benefit to our members during this last year because of COVID-19,” said Shannon Crowley, M.B.A, GatorCare’s director of operations. “We’re trying to meet people where they are emotionally and offer support so they can get the important job done for what they do in our organization.”
One of GatorCare’s most popular programs is the annual walking challenge, where they’ve transitioned this from a manual to an all-online program. As technology improves, this can also be a major catalyst in helping GatorCare grow as an organization and within UF Health.
“It’s an exciting journey UF as a whole is on and I’m excited to be a part of it,” McCarty said. “In my interview process, I was very impressed with the senior leadership team and their vision, focus and mission of this organization.”
McCarty’s responsibilities include oversight of medical and pharmacy benefit services, including utilization trend management, care management, quality of care and wellness programming. He will support and manage the services handled by GatorCare in delivery to the customer base.
Sumfest says she knew within the first few minutes of her interview with McCarty that he was one of her top candidates. His extensive experience on the provider side of medicine as well as his overall persona will help UF Health get to the next step in shared service agreements and improving quality metrics in the practice setting.
“The commonality of training and medical practice in the military environment is a mutual experience,” McCarty said. “I am confident that those experiences have positively impacted our individual careers and will serve as a strong foundation for taking GatorCare to the next level.”