We have had numerous meetings with our open - heart surgery
team in preparation for our beginning this vital new service in July. The physicians, who will be doing the surgery, have clarified their expectations and they are elated with our staff, our equipment and our specially designated Cardiovascular
Intensive Care Unit. We will begin to provide interventional cardiology (to include angioplasty) in July as well. In the Cath Lab, just like in our two new operating rooms, we have state of the art equipment.

Another major initiative for the next few years is our pursuit of
Magnet recognition. The American Nursing Association studied hospitals that attracted patients, employees and physicians (thus
the term Magnet) to see what characteristics they had in common. As a result of their assessment they developed the 14
Forces of Magnetism that these hospitals demonstrated. Hospitals that have successfully integrated these 14 attributes are eligible to apply for the Magnet Award. Only 100 hospitals (out of 5,000) in our country have achieved this recognition. We will put in our application in December and hear whether we earned this recognition in 2007. We have already learned a great deal from the process, having visited several hospitals that have earned magnet recognition. We have compared our progress toward meeting these high standards and we feel confident we will achieve this honor. Our goal is to be the very best hospital in our area for patients, employees and physicians.

Employees and physicians have been involved in numerous quality improvement efforts to have the very best Emergency Department regionally. Although our volume of patients has increased significantly since last year, wait times have gone down, and patient satisfaction scores have gone up. During the winter months all hospitals in Florida are affected by the significant increase in Emergency Department patients. Our University of Florida physicians and our employees are continually challenged to seek the most effective and efficient care.

We are in the process of adding a fifth Family Health Center in Auburndale near Hwy 92 and Berkley Road. We are very proud of the physicians and other staff in our Family Health Centers (see the last page for location and phone numbers)

We anticipate beginning construction on our new main hospital lobby, outpatient areas, new operating rooms, and parking structure in early 2006. This promises to be another very positive enhancement of our hospital and for the community.

As a not-for-profit community hospital we are continually focused on meeting the expectations of the people we serve. As always, we welcome input from the community regarding our services. You are welcome to call me at 297- 1899.