On Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, Tampa General Hospital completed its acquisition of Bravera Health. This was day one for Tampa General Hospital in Hernando and Citrus counties.
The Bravera Health network is now TGH North and includes:
· TGH Spring Hill (formerly Bravera Health Spring Hill)
· TGH Brooksville (formerly Bravera Health Brooksville)
· TGH Crystal River (formerly Bravera Health Seven Rivers)
· One freestanding ER
· Two ambulatory surgery centers
· Ten primary care and specialty care clinics
With the acquisition, Tampa General’s academic health system consists of six hospitals, more than 150 care locations and nearly 14,000 team members and providers. The system serves patients from 23 counties across Florida.
In an interview with Hernando Sun last Friday, John Couris, CEO and President of Tampa General Hospital (TGH), said that the first year will be spent becoming part of the fabric of the community and building a strategic plan. They want to honor and respect the medical community and add to the excellence that already exists in the area.
“We want to spend this year listening and learning from the community; collaborating with our local physicians, understanding what they want and what they need.” This input will then be used to develop the strategic plan for these hospitals.
He said that they are not coming into the community with a predisposed idea of what the community needs.
“We want to hear from the community itself: from patients, from physicians and community leaders.”
He remarked that they will want to understand what people think is lacking and then they will build a plan around that. If there is a subspecialty that is lacking, they will use their resources to build up that area of expertise.
For example, TGH has the fourth-largest transplant program in the nation. The idea over time is that post-transplant care would be delivered locally, with the surgery performed in Tampa. This will minimize the amount of travel required of patients.
“We want to keep people local where and whenever possible,” Couris said.
In addition to listening to the community and developing a strategic plan in year one, they also need to convert 40 different IT systems onto their IT platform.
Couris stated that with its acquisition of Bravera Health, Tampa General Hospital will bring the vast resources of USF Health to the county, improving access to academic medicine and research. Tampa General Hospital is the primary teaching hospital for USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. This partnership also supports the Tampa Medical & Research District, drawing well-known physicians and researchers to Florida.
“With the creation of TGH North, we’re investing in this growing, vibrant region,” said Steve Short, EVP & President of TGH North. “The communities in Citrus and Hernando counties can continue to depend on their local hospitals while benefiting from the cutting-edge research conducted at TGH and USF Health and access to a broader network of providers that offer rare and complex specialized care.”
TGH prioritizes innovation, such as CareComm, a mission-style command center that uses AI applications to unify care coordination system-wide and improve operational effectiveness. Another program called TGH at Home provides hospital-quality care, daily in-home visits, and round-the-clock remote patient monitoring in the convenience of the patient’s home, where they can receive support from their loved ones.
“We have a bold vision to offer world-class health care, research and innovation to communities throughout Florida, and a key step toward realizing this vision is embracing partnerships that allow us to expand services where they are needed most,” said Couris. “By bringing the Bravera Health network into our system and coming together as one organization, we will be stronger in our united mission to transform health care for all Floridians.”
