The region's only university-affiliated academic health system will convene leading innovators transforming the health care landscape in Tampa Bay and beyond to inspire team members and solve real-world problems.
TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As the region's only university-affiliated academic health system, Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is at the forefront of groundbreaking research, pioneering advancements and world-class training that are reshaping the future of care delivery across the industry. To celebrate how the organization's culture of innovation drives its mission to deliver exceptional patient care and advance medical research, treatment and education, Tampa General is kicking off its inaugural TGH Innovation Week and TGH Ventures Summit today through Sept. 13. These events are designed to inspire team members to accelerate innovation across the system and empower them to play an active role in bringing innovative ideas to life with tangible tools and takeaways.
Tailored to the theme, "Inspire. Empower. Practice.," the inaugural TGH Innovation Week event offers dynamic and engaging programming curated to spark curiosity, creativity and collaboration for all team members as they continue pushing boundaries and reimagining what's possible for health care. Additionally, the event curates an environment conducive to creating connections with peers, mentors and leaders to exchange ideas, build partnerships and identify potential opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration.
"As a health system practicing true academic medicine, innovation is inherently woven into the cultural fabric of who we are as an organization," said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General. "Bringing Innovation Week to our team is our way of driving home the idea that innovation is a collective practice, and innovation can come from and be driven by anyone, regardless of where you sit within the organization, and that we should all be empowered to explore ideas that can make health care better for the communities we serve."
TGH Innovation Week and TGH Ventures Summit programming, emceed by Lakshmi Shenoy, CEO of Embarc Collective, features inspiring sessions from:
Throughout the week, participants can join creative workshops led by experts from Dali Labs at The Dali Museum and Steven Granese with Compass Productivity, designed to equip participants with new tools and frameworks for everyday innovation, and take part in an exciting new format, 3 for 60 Lightning Talks, a twist on the traditional panel discussion where innovators will tell three different stories during a 60-minute exploration of innovative initiatives at work in Tampa General.
"At Tampa General, so much of our work is driven in partnership with organizations that are revolutionizing the health care industry through their own sector expertise, whether in technology, artificial intelligence or otherwise," said Scott Arnold, executive vice president and chief digital and innovation officer of Tampa General. "Bringing our team together to learn from this diverse group of experts, who are innovators in their own right, demonstrates that not only are we committed to investing in innovation, but we recognize that it can look like a lot of different things to different people."
Building upon the TGH Innovation Week programming, TGH Ventures — Tampa General's dedicated corporate venture capital arm and innovation team — will host its first-ever TGH Ventures Summit for the health system's leaders, venture capital partners and TGH Ventures portfolio companies.
The TGH Ventures Summit will showcase the innovative solutions of early-stage companies that TGH Ventures identified as having significant potential for streamlining access to comprehensive health care, lowering costs, optimizing care delivery methods and enhancing the overall patient experience, and has directly invested in to help develop and bring these solutions into the patient care environment at Tampa General.
By financially and strategically supporting businesses with leading-edge ideas, Tampa General and TGH Ventures ensure that patients, health care providers and team members will continue to benefit from the latest innovations in care for years to come.
"The work we do at TGH Ventures is essential to ensuring that great ideas with transformative potential for the health care industry make it past the idea stage and get the opportunity to fulfill the promise we see in them," said Rachel Feinman, vice president of innovation at Tampa General and managing director of TGH Ventures. "We are excited to have this new opportunity, through the TGH Ventures Summit, to put the spotlight on businesses — and their leaders — who share our mission and are creating the future of health care right here in Tampa Bay."
Founders of TGH Ventures portfolio companies will participate in The Long Conversation, a series of short, two-person, unmoderated dialogues featuring:
TGH Innovation Week (TGHIW) 2024 participants can also participate in the TGHIW Hackathon, a cornerstone of Innovation Week designed to ignite creativity and inspire change. This event invites all Tampa General team members, regardless of their role, to tackle real-world challenges and contribute to transformative solutions across the organization, culminating in a competitive pitch event at the end of the event.
More information about TGH Innovation Week 2024, including event programming and speakers, is available here.
ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 981-bed, not-for-profit, academic health system, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2024-2025 Best Hospitals, with two medical specialties ranking among the top 20 in the nation and eight medical specialties ranking among the top 50 best hospital programs in the United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic health system's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by three prestigious Forbes magazine rankings – in the top 100 nationally in the 2024 America's Best Large Employers, the top 50 in Florida in the 2024 America's Best Employers by State and the 2023 America's Best Employers for Women, Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2022, provided a net community benefit of approximately $240.3 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Muma Children's Hospital at TGH, the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes TGH North which is comprised of three hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties, 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Outpatient Center, TGH Virtual Health, and 21 TGH Imaging outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.
Media Contact: Beth Hardy, APR
Assistant Manager
Publications & Physician Communications
(727) 510-6363 (cell)
ehardy@tgh.org
SOURCE Tampa General Hospital