Hospital board increases regional heft

Tampa General Hospital President and CEO Jim Burkhart was elected chairman of the Florida Hospital Association board.

The board's vice chairman and chairman-elect is also an area executive: John Kolosky, COO at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. Burkhart succeeds Mark Faulkner, president and CEO of Baptist Health Care Pensacola, according to a statement.

“It is a privilege to chair the association on behalf of more than 200 Florida hospitals and health systems,” Burkhart says in the release. “In the year ahead, we will continue to focus on clinical performance improvement and policies intended to foster better care, better health and lower costs.”

The FHA Board, according to the release, will lead hospital patient safety efforts through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Improvement Innovation Network. Participating hospitals will work to decrease patient harm by 20% and reduce hospital readmissions by 12% through 2019.

Returning board trustees for the yearlong term include Mike Schultz, president and CEO of the West Florida Division of Florida Hospital; Elaine Thompson, president and CEO of Lakeland Regional Health; David Verinder, president and CEO of Sarasota Memorial Health Care System; and Dr. Allen Weiss, president and CEO of NCH Healthcare System in Naples.

The Florida Hospital Association is comprised of 205 hospitals and health systems statewide.