During their meeting on March 8, County Commissioners welcomed Joshua DeTillio as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bravera Health Brooksville Hospital and Bravera Health Spring Hill Hospital. DeTillio became the hospitals’ CEO on Dec. 13, 2021.
DeTillio came to the healthcare profession roughly 20 years ago after leaving the Army where he served as a field artillery officer. Prior to becoming Bravera Health CEO for their Brooksville and Spring Hill hospitals, he was CEO of Palms West Hospital, a 204-bed acute care hospital in West Palm Beach.
Bayfront Health Brooksville and Brooksville Health Spring Hill were both rebranded in November 2021 to the Bravera name. The word is a combination of “brave” and the Latin root for “true,” “vera.”
In addition to the two hospitals, DeTillio is also in charge of two ambulatory surgery centers, a wound care center, an urgent care center, and several doctor’s offices. His goals are to expand primary care accessibility in the county.
“We’re a very underserved county in terms of primary care.”
Chairman Steve Champion asked DeTillio what Bravera’s future looks like post-pandemic. DeTillio is confident that after COVID, hospital services will still be needed by an aging population and the existence of chronic illness in general. The biggest challenge he faces is the healthcare worker staffing shortage, which became evident during the previous two years.
In an effort to increase nursing professionals, Bravera Health has partnered with the Jersey College of Nursing to establish a training program on the campus of Bravera Health Brooksville (17222 Hospital Blvd Ste 110 in Brooksville).
Commissioner Beth Narverud asked about community education, which DeTillio says has also been expanding by offering physician lectures and specialist outreach to the community to educate on topics such as when to visit an emergency room versus an urgent care center.
Jennifer Siem, Bravera’s Director of Marketing & Public Relations, responded to Narverud’s question of whether the Enrichment Centers will remain a Bravera agency. Siem stated, “We don’t have plans to add those services back to the hospital. What we are focused on is meeting the seniors in the community where they are.
