Easy Transition For New CEO at West Boca Medical
By Marci Shatzman
He didn’t even have to move, and that’s not the only reason Jerad Hanlon’s glad he was named CEO at West Boca Medical Center.
Two weeks into the top job, Hanlon doesn’t even have to get his feet wet. He was already chief operating officer at St. Mary’s Medical Center, one of five hospitals in the Palm Beach Health Network he helped organize and rebrand.
“I’m enjoying being back in my element,” Hanlon said in his bright airy office just off the lobby. Sports paraphernalia was already on the shelf from his alma mater, James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., the state where he was raised. “We’re playing Old Dominion next,” he said about the Dukes and the Monarchs game this weekend.
Here’s a few needs-to-know about the new CEO in town:
Q: What made you move to South Florida in 2019?
A: I met Maggie Gill (Tenet Healthcare’s eastern group president) in Virginia, and she reached out to me with a job as chief strategy officer to develop a strategy of (shared) care for all our hospitals instead of competing with each other. We’re really one brand with a hospital hallway on I-95.
Q: What does that mean for West Boca Medical?
A: I’m keeping that momentum going. Our women’s services, our level III NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). We’re really well situated with surgery, especially spinal and orthopedic. Focusing on our services allows our physicians to know their patients will get really good care.
Q: How has medical care changed in the hospital?
A: What used to be ICU (intensive care unit) is now on the regular floor. What was on the regular floor is now outpatient. So, what’s in the hospital is more acuity, (patients) who are really sick. If they have to be here, they’re going to be getting really good care. We already have that, but we want to make sure the community knows. That’s my first objective.
Q: What do you want people to know about you?
A: I’m married. (His wife works remotely). I’m big into sports, boating and scuba diving. (He has an advanced open water diving certification.) We’re very involved with our church, Christ Fellowship.
