How Tampa children’s hospital nurses, doctors handle high-intensity jobs
TAMPA — St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital isn’t the largest of its kind. It boasts 219 beds, employs more than 550 people and handled more than 37,000 emergency room visits last year.
However, compared to other children’s hospitals across the country, staff there say the Tampa facility enjoys a workplace culture that fosters better collaboration among employees. And that improves efficiency and makes the high-intensity environment less stressful.
“People are very much open, respecting each other’s opinion and able to say, ‘Hey, I don’t agree with you,’” said Kelvin Lau, director of pediatric electrophysiology at the medical center, which is part of the 16-hospital BayCare Health System. “In different institutions, it’s kind of like, ‘It’s my way or the highway. I’m more senior than you.’”
Lau, who has worked at the hospital since 2019, said he hopes its current atmosphere is maintained when BayCare replaces the facility by 2030.
The healthcare system announced last year it will build a new St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital on its existing campus near Raymond James Stadium. The project is in the early design phase and it is not yet clear how many beds it will have, hospital spokesperson Amy Gall stated in an email. Last year, the medical center saw 9,100 admissions and conducted 4,900 surgeries. BayCare is the largest provider of pediatric services in West Central Florida, according to the company.
More capacity could help the hospital’s cancer program. It has seen a recent spike in patients, said Don Eslin, medical director of hematology and oncology.
The program had 78 new patients last year, and almost 90 in 2022, Eslin said. Four years ago, there were about 50. Eslin attributes the increase to the area’s pandemic era population boom.
One of the program’s latest patients is Santiago Lopez, 17, an 11th grader from Riverview who is receiving chemotherapy due to a lymphoma cancer on his scalp. Lopez hopes he’ll finish the treatment in late April.
On a recent Thursday, he was staying in the program’s 22-bed inpatient unit after developing mouth sores due to the chemo.
Lopez, who is interested in becoming an actor, said the hospital workers were comforting and made him feel safe.
“There is a really good congeniality between physicians, staff,” said Eslin, who has been at the hospital for four years. “Everyone’s working toward helping people get better.”
He noted the collaborative spirit.
“I can pick up the phone and call anyone if I have a question, and vice versa,” he said.
The head of cardiology recently contacted Eslin about an adult patient with a congenital heart problem and a bleeding risk. (Pediatric heart doctors continue to see adults who were born with cardiac issues, Eslin said.)
“They needed some help. I’m like, ‘OK. ... Call me and I’ll talk to you about it,’” Eslin said. “It’s outside my scope technically because of age, but we’re going to make sure the patient’s taken care of.”
Veronica Walker, a registered nurse in the 16-bed pediatric intensive care unit who has been at the hospital for seven years, said she appreciates how closely her team works together and the familiarity among staff.
Her unit cares for some of the hospital’s sickest children, often seeing kids suffering from respiratory illnesses or family abuse and those involved in car crashes or near-drowning incidents.
“I’ve been at bigger places where I don’t think half the nursing staff knew who I was,” Walker said.
BayCare Health System
Location: Clearwater
Employees: 31,579
Website: baycare.org
Employee comments: “I’m proud of the organization I work for. I feel like we truly make a difference in the community.”
“I currently have time to talk to my patients in this position. I don’t get yelled at by physicians and I feel like the manager actually listens to me. I feel valued in this position. This job is a lot different and better than my previous position.”
“I am able to connect with people from all walks of life and help them to become a better version of themselves.”
