11 Oct SFBW Listens to Voices From the Front Lines of Health Care

Given the extent to which health care matters impact a range of industries, SFBW was inspired to convene a roundtable of experts in their respective fields to share what they’ve been experiencing on a day-to-day basis. The varied perspectives on display proved edifying for all the participants: While Michael Swartz, president of Health Karma in Fort Lauderdale, grew animated when describing the reinvestment strategy of his company during COVID, Stephanie Zeverino, director of business development, South Florida, Belmont Village Senior Living, enthused about the adoption of telemedicine among her residents. The event was held just after masking restrictions had been relaxed and before the delta variant has made its presence widely felt, so the meeting was emotional as well as professional due to the novelty of colleagues being able to interact maskless and face-to-face. Marcelle Turner, vice president of marketing strategy at Bankers Healthcare Group, co-hosted the event with SFBW editor-in-chief Drew Limsky. (BHG was the presenting sponsor of SFBW’s inaugural Excellence in Healthcare Awards last spring.) These are some moments from a wide-ranging discussion. VACCINE UPTAKE Stephanie Zeverino: “We are mandating vaccines for all our employees. We are a female-led company, and our CEO is very passionate about keeping our residents safe in a senior living environment.” Mindy Richman: “Pediatricians offices are flooded with kids with positive COVID-19 tests, usually with the new variant, and they’re all mingling in the same office when they go in for testing or treatment. A lot of the numbers of new cases are being found in pediatric cases, and the problem is these younger people who are unable to get vaccinated are infecting others—in camps and daycare. Grandparents like to see grandchildren, but people forget that the older population, vaccinated or not, are still at risk.” Jeremy Katzman: “Our president was one of the first to announce a requirement of the vaccinations for all faculty, students and staff. The response was mixed, like everything else. Since we do receive grants from the state, we then had to walk that policy back. We have a voluntary vaccination program where you can self-report your status online.” Michael Swartz: “I think we missed the ball by not incentivizing the vaccine by saying, ‘You can take off the mask if you get vaccinated.’ Health care as a whole has to get better about incentivizing and motivating people to take control of their own health.”