Dear Friends,
2021 was a remarkable year for Nicklaus Children’s. Even as we grappled with a persistent pandemic that continued to challenge clinical and operational teams, we set forth on a journey to implement our 2021-2023 strategic plan, moving forward – by leaps and bounds – to drive the future of pediatric care in our community.
The success in advancing our strategic plan is a source of great pride, given our essential role in helping families of our community navigate the pandemic. I am proud of our commitment to vaccinating a steadily widening population of children as the CDC expanded vaccine recommendations to include increasingly younger age groups. And during the peak of the Delta variant’s impact on our community in the summer of 2021, we provided inpatient and outpatient care for among the largest numbers of COVID19-positive children in the nation.
This intensive focus did not divert our strategic momentum. As stewards of the region’s only freestanding children’s hospital – one that has served this community with distinction for more than 70 years – we understand the critical importance of formulating and pursuing strategies to make our health system, and the community we serve, even stronger in the years ahead.
Our strategic plan charts a path forward built around goals that align with our four organizational pillars: Amazing Patient Care, Operational Excellence, Building the Future and Focus on Us.
Here are just a few highlights from our year of leaps and bounds:
Amazing Patient Care: We introduced new state-of-art clinical innovations, including minimally invasive heart and neurosurgical procedures, and expanded the number of locations and pediatric specialists serving our community.
Operational Excellence: Our new leadership team, assembled in 2019 and 2020, enhanced our fiscal performance, leading to higher ratings from both Fitch and Standard and Poor’s. In addition, we strengthened our clinical institutes, ensuring they continue to represent the pinnacle of care excellence through clinical and surgical leadership, research contributions, and training the next generation of pediatric specialists.
Building the Future: Our foundation had a banner year, raising record philanthropic support to advance major initiatives, including expanding our inpatient Psychiatry Unit, and funding our planned new surgical tower. We also developed initial plans for the tower and secured sources of funding.
Focus on Us: Ensuring that we meet the needs of our valued workforce is essential to our future. In 2021, we raised our minimum wage to levels not required in Florida until 2026, and boosted our annual September 2 Remember internal celebrations to new heights.
I hope you will take a moment to read more about our year of leaps and bounds. Our many successes are a tribute to our entire Nicklaus Children’s family – physicians, clinical and support teams, donors and the patients and families who look to us for care and support. Thank you, one and all, for an amazing year.
Sincerely,
Matthew A. Love President and Chief Executive Officer
Nicklaus Children’s Health System
Download in PDF Annual Report 2021 (4 MB)
