Broward Health hosted its first State of the System address on Monday, January 23, at the Broward Center for Performing Arts, highlighting the system’s 85-year legacy. More than 500 guests, including elected officials, business leaders and healthcare industry leaders from around the tri-county region were present to hear Broward Health leadership provide updates on the system’s current and future initiatives.
“We opened our first hospital in 1938, just 20-some years after the City of Fort Lauderdale was founded,” said Shane Strum, President & CEO of Broward Health. “Through our shared history, Broward Health is woven into the very fabric of our region. Just as then, now and forever Broward Health will be here to serve our community.”
After reviewing historical milestones of the system, Strum delivered updates, including the announcement of a partnership agreement with Florida Atlantic University’s College of Medicine that will provide academic medicine to Broward County and opportunities to collaborate in the areas of education, clinical training and practice, health services administration, and research.
“We welcome opportunities for collaboration to expand our health care network, provide lifesaving medical services, and importantly, train the next generation of physicians who will serve our communities with compassion, integrity and highly skilled care,” Strum said. “As the first statutory teaching hospital in Broward County, partnerships like this one ensure we continue to build the skilled physician workforce our region needs while meeting the health care needs of our communities today.”
Other key initiatives highlighted during the address included:
- A new freestanding Emergency Department in the City of Sunrise in partnership with Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital that is set to open in 2024.
- The impending opening of Broward Health Medical Center’s Stereotaxis lab, the first in Florida and fifth in the nation, that will offer the latest robotic cardiac care with the Genesis system.
- Broward Health’s continued partnership with UF Health and Insightec for an Alzheimer’s clinical trial announced last summer.
- The introduction of Broward HealthPoint’s new mobile health unit that drives accessible healthcare to at-risk uninsured or underinsured residents.
Additional speakers included Stacy Angier, chair of the North Broward Hospital District Board of Commissioners, who gave a welcome message.
James Roach, D.O., chief of emergency medicine for Broward Health and chief medical officer for Broward Health Medical Center, delivered a dedication to physicians and acknowledged first responders in attendance.
Joe Roetz, a weekend anchor with WSVN, served as the event’s emcee.
Before the event concluded, several recent and generous donations to the Broward Health Foundation were celebrated, including:
- A $5.5 million donation by Marvin H. Weiner and Jacqueline J. Bernstein to purchase cutting-edge imaging technology and establish the Jacqueline J. Bernstein & Marvin H. Weiner Imaging Center at Broward Health Imperial Point.
- The donation of a medical office suite valued at more than $1 million by Dr. Anthony Chidiac and Dr. Rita Garulli-Chidiac.
- A $500,000 donation by Mark Kent in support of minority graduate medical education programming.
More details about Broward Health’s 85-year legacy of service can be found at www.BrowardHealth.org/85.
Broward Health is a nationally recognized health system in South Florida. As one of the 10 largest public healthcare systems in the U.S., Broward Health boasts two trauma centers and virtually every health specialty, offering compassionate, personalized care across its four hospitals and more than 50 health centers and physician practices. As a leader in advanced healthcare for 85 years, Broward Health has a robust graduate education program and international services. For more information, visit BrowardHealth.org.
