A new 18-member board of directors has been appointed for Shands Jacksonville.
The announcement comes in the wake of a vote last fall that restructured governance of two components of the Shands family of hospitals – Shands Jacksonville and Shands at the University of Florida. They now independently operate as closely collaborating “sister” entities with parallel roles, each with its own board and a direct relationship to UF leadership. Their shared mission focuses on the UF Academic Health Center’s goals for patients, students and research programs.
“Our new board of directors brings together University of Florida and Shands Jacksonville administrators and physicians as well as strong community leaders who support the hospital’s mission,” said Jim Burkhart, president and CEO of Shands Jacksonville, and a member of the board. “With this new board, we are well-positioned to form strategic alliances and make decisions more quickly to ensure financial success of the hospital and further our reach in the community.”
Dr. David S. Guzick, senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of the UF&Shands Health System, chairs both the Shands Jacksonville and the Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics boards.
Burkhart and Guzick are seated on the Shands Jacksonville board along with Dr. Robert C. Nuss, dean of the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville regional campus and associate vice president for health affairs. The remaining members include five UF faculty physicians and a mix of civic, business and health-care leaders with strong ties to the Jacksonville community.
“With greater participation in the governance of the organization, UF faculty are able to work together with community leaders and help set the strategic direction for Shands Jacksonville,” said Nuss.
Shands Jacksonville embarked on a remarkable turnaround over the past decade. Thanks to substantial investment by Shands at UF, the city of Jacksonville and the University of Florida, and to excellent management by hospital and university leaders and the Shands Jacksonville board of directors, the picture steadily improved, year-by-year.
“The hospital is now operating efficiently and is able to invest in the academic mission of the faculty at the UF College of Medicine-Jacksonville and in the capital investments needed to support a higher level of patient care with appropriate facilities and technologies,” said Guzick. “The University of Florida faculty practice plan has become, by far, the largest group practice in the region, providing a full range of health services to the broad community of Jacksonville.”