Along the Emerald Coast , the military and tourism industry heavyweights make a prodigious economic impact, generating just over $5.5 billion per year in Okaloosa County alone.

While the economic effects of the health-care industry are not as formidable, the industry’s importance to the region certainly is. It sustains and ensures the health of all of our industries, literally from cradle to grave.

But faced with a highly diverse population, rising costs and bold new advances in medical technology, the Emerald Coast ’s health-care industry faces an endless challenge to provide for the future wellbeing of patients in the region.

The health-care community in Okaloosa and Walton counties comprises five major medical facilities and their staffs. Taken together, they make their presence felt in the region’s economy.

“Combined, these facilities generate over half a billion dollars a year in annual revenue,” said Rick Harper of the University of West Florida ’s Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development.

To adapt to the dynamic health-care environment and to ensure that the best care is provided, these medical facilities have embarked on ambitious programs of recruitment, technology, new service centers and new construction to meet patients’ needs throughout the Emerald Coast .

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center

One such facility, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center , is in the process of adding a Level II nursery and upgrading its current obstetrics unit. The $3 million construction project will create a new 10-bed, state-of-the-art nursery that will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by board-certified neonatologists and registered nurses trained to care for premature and full-term newborns.

“With the addition of the Level II nursery, parents will no longer have to travel two counties away to another hospital in order to spend time with their baby who has special needs,” said Marian Bach, director of women and children’s services for the medical center. “Now they will be able to stay near their home and have a specialist care for their baby’s special needs.”

Fort Walton Beach Medical Center CEO Wayne Campbell emphasized the point.

“The message we want to send to expecting parents is that you should have peace of mind knowing that with the addition of the Level II nursery, we will be able to provide this level of specialized newborn care right here at home at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center ,” he said.
The hospital also is building a $2.7 million electrophysiology lab that will provide a full array of diagnostic and treatment options for patients suffering from heart-rhythm irregularities.

“The addition of electrophysiology services at The Heart Center at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center opens a new chapter in the development of our cardiovascular services for our community,” Campbell said. “Patients with irregular heart rhythms will benefit from these services being provided in a timelier manner, closer to their home, and they no longer will have to deal with the inconvenience of traveling to Escambia or Bay County to be diagnosed and treated for these cardiac-related conditions.”

The hospital recently was recognized by HealthGrades, an independent health-care ratings company, with its 2007 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence, which acknowledges the top 5 percent of hospitals not affiliated with the federal government for quality performance.

“It’s an honor to have an independent, nationally recognized health-care rating company like HealthGrades confirm that we are achieving our goals and performing at the same level as some of the most prestigious health-care organizations in the country,” Campbell said.

Sacred Heart Hospital

Open since January 2003, Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast hit the beaches in full stride. Bolstered by an unprecedented community effort and a land donation by the St. Joe Company, Sacred Heart has continued to move forward with innovative projects to meet patient needs.

In fact, Sacred Heart already has established a due date for its first birth delivery – fall 2007 – at its Family Birth Place, presently under construction. With the backing of a $5 million community support campaign, the Family Birth Place, along with the Olson Women’s Diagnostic Center , forms the hospital’s new Women’s Services project.

“With an increasing number of younger families moving to Okaloosa and Walton counties, we see a growing need in the community for childbirth services,” said Roger Hall , the hospital’s chief executive officer. “We hope the community will continue to support us as we seek to meet the health-care needs of all women – at every stage of a woman’s life.”

The Family Birth Place will house four spacious, private labor-delivery-recovery suites, one private labor-delivery-recovery postpartum suite, six private postpartum suites, a newborn nursery, education classrooms, a family waiting area and additional support services.

The Olson Women’s Diagnostic Center , meanwhile, will feature personalized, coordinated care while conveniently centralizing all screening and diagnostic appointments for breast care, bone health and ultrasounds. A “dedicated patient care navigator” will assist patients with gathering information, organizing appointments and working with physicians, insurers and a support network to make sure patients receive the best possible care in a timely manner. The center is scheduled to open in late spring.

Future plans for the hospital include yet another $5 million campaign for an expansion of its Heart and Vascular Services clinic to address the No. 1 killer of both men and women: heart disease.

The main components of the project include an additional heart catheterization lab and a 64-slice CT scanner to provide the highest quality in cardiac diagnostics. The expanded services will be located on the first floor of the new west wing created by the expansion of Women’s Services.

“Each expansion at the hospital is a tribute to the community for their support, leadership and vision to continually improve access and quality of health care in our region,” Hall said.

Twin Cities Hospital

Things are moving along in Niceville as well. In October 2006, that city’s Twin Cities Hospital opened a $10 million, 18,000-square-foot expansion, adding three new operating rooms and a surgical outpatient facility. The addition gives the hospital a total of six operating rooms, according to CEO David Whalen.

The expansion was designed to serve growing outpatient surgery needs since, according to Whalen, “nationwide, about 70 percent of surgical procedures are done on an outpatient basis.”

In addition, another $4 million renovation to the three existing operating rooms was recently completed.

Twin Cities also has incorporated a physician’s information system called the PatientKeeper, giving physicians easier access to patient information by incorporating easy “one-tap” technology so that they can access and complete patient information from multiple clinical systems via a handheld wireless device.  

“It allows physicians to have up-to-the-minute access to our computer system for lab and radiology reports and everything else from wherever they are,” said Whalen.

In August 2006, Twin Cities Hospital partnered with businesses and Fort Walton Beach Medical Center to establish the Crossroads Center Medical Clinic, which provides free services for eligible low-income, uninsured or underinsured adult residents in Okaloosa County.According to Whalen, statistics for Okaloosa County show that patients could have benefited from having this clinic in approximately 70 percent of emergency-room visits.

In addition, 10 percent of the total population has no health insurance. This number is expected to increase in the future and outpace the growth in total population.

Whalen said he is proud of the commitment of the health-care professionals and touts their mantra of “extraordinary people and extraordinary care.” Their commitment is reflected in their tenure.

“We have a tremendous amount of long-term employees, physicians and volunteers,” he said.

Citing the national average of 3.2 years average employee tenure, Whalen said that “people come here and they become bonded and loyal to the community, so they stay longer.” 

White-Wilson Medical Center

White-Wilson Medical Center has a long history of making investments in patient care and technology, ever since Dr. Henry White opened his office on tiny Brooks Street in downtown Fort Walton Beach . Joined by Dr. Joseph Wilson in 1952, White-Wilson Medical Center has provided a comprehensive range of services with the convenience of “one-stop shopping.”

In March, White-Wilson began offering digital mammography with a computer-aided second reader.

In order to provide patients with optimal breast imaging and comfort with lower X-ray dosage, White-Wilson installed the MAMMOMAT Novation digital mammography system from Siemens Medical Solutions, according to Alan Gieseman, CEO of White-Wilson.

Part of this new system was the iCAD second-look system. The iCAD system is a state-of-the-art computerized image reader that will provide a second “read” of all mammogram films. This second read helps to ensure that even the most minute trouble areas are detected and thus treated early. White-Wilson is the first in the Fort Walton Beach area to provide the iCAD system, Gieseman said

Also in the spring, White-Wilson expanded its Destin facility by enlarging space to accommodate more physicians. Gieseman said this expansion is in direct response to Destin’s growth.The Destin clinic now offers family practice and immediate care in addition to ear, nose and throat/head and neck surgery, OB/GYN and pediatrics.

One of White-Wilson’s unique services is its NeuroScience Center . With two neurosurgeons, four neurologists and a neurological physician’s assistant, it represents a rare and highly specialized capability in a single facility. Dr. Rob Feldman, staff neurosurgeon, noted the demographic characteristics of the community and how the NeuroScience Center anticipates patient needs.

“ Northwest Florida and the Fort Walton Beach/Destin/Crestview/Niceville areas create a varied patient population, which includes vacationers and senior citizens, as well as a large contingent of military personnel,” Feldman said. “The variety of population creates water sports injuries, head trauma cases, degenerative spine injuries, intracranial hemorrhages, normal-pressure hydrocephalus cases and active-duty injuries.

“We are continually updating and enhancing the neurosurgical procedures that we perform,” Feldman said. “Common procedures we perform are brain tumors; brain hemorrhages; hydrocephalus; neck/arm and low back/leg pain; spinal fractures; and peripheral nerve problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome. This includes not only performing new types of procedures and using new equipment and tools, but also remaining up-to-date on the latest in basic science and clinical applications in the neurosurgical professional literature.”

Feldman emphasized that White-Wilson’s cachet of convenient one-stop-shopping supports all specialties including neurosurgery.

“If a CT scan, MRI, nerve conduction studies, audiology, bone scan, X-ray, labs or physical therapy are needed, we can get it all done under one roof,” he said.
North Okaloosa Medical Center

In northern Okaloosa County , rapid population growth makes the area one of the most dynamic health-care markets in the region. Crestview has experienced nearly 50-percent growth in the last 10 years, increasing the need for expanded health care. North Okaloosa Medical Center has celebrated fast-paced growth and continues to add services to better serve the community.

“The trends show us that an overwhelming number of retirees and young families are moving into our community,” said Dr. Pam Meadows, chairwoman of the medical center’s board of trustees. “We are very proud of the advancements we are making in our hospital services and physician staffing that have allowed us to keep up with the demands of a growing population.”

One major area of growth in the last few years has been the establishment of the Heart and Vascular Center .

Staffed with a highly trained vascular team, North Okaloosa Medical Center was the first in the area to purchase state-of-the-art equipment, such as the 16-slice CT scanner and the Spectranetics Excimer Laser System, a multi-purpose cardiovascular system whose versatility allows it to be used in coronary and peripheral angioplasty and pacemaker and implantable cardioverter/defibrillator lead extractions, among other procedures.

“Our hospital enjoys a 94-percent overall in-patient satisfaction score,” said Dr. Luis Gomez, chief of the medical staff. “The strategy that has led to this success is the combination of responsible personnel, modern equipment, effective management, sophisticated support services, up-to-date professional education programs, and a medical staff of over 132 physicians who provide 28 different medical specialties.”  

Adapting to the changing health-care environment requires a commitment to a forward-looking strategy to build a responsive health-care capability – a daunting task given the dynamics of the population, rising costs, insurance issues, and the ever-changing state of medical technology.

But the Emerald Coast ’s five medical facilities are clearly facing those challenges for the area’s residents.

In addition to assuring the health and well being of our population, the outstanding care these facilities provide add to the Emerald Coast ’s appeal as a place to live and work.  

“Three of Okaloosa County ’s top 10 employers are health-care providers who help add tremendous value to the high quality of life that is essential for the growth of existing and new businesses throughout our area,” says Larry Sassano, President of The Economic Development Council of Okaloosa County.

“When employers are surveyed about the most important factors affecting their new growth decisions, healthcare and quality health services weight in near the top of their list.”

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Scott Jackson

© 2007 Scott Jackson