Hugh Greene on the future of health care in Florida

Hugh Greene, a former Baptist minister, joined Baptist Health of Northeast Florida in 1989 and became CEO in 2000. During his tenure, the non-profit health system has expanded to include five hospitals, a cancer center and a primary care network with 199 providers in 50 office locations.

In September, Greene, 65, announced that he would retire from the region’s largest health care provider as soon as a replacement is found.

Greene says he and his wife, Susan, who have three sons and four grandchildren, will stay in Jacksonville and focus on their non-profit work. He is a founding member of the Jacksonville Civic Council, a group of CEOs, and past chair of the University of North Florida’s board of trustees. Susan Greene is a board member for JASMYN, which provides support services to LGBTQ youth in Jacksonville.

Greene spoke to FLORIDA TREND about his career and the future of the health-care industry.

Financial challenges: “Hospitals in Florida have faced almost $900 million in cuts in Medicaid funding over the last two years. The question is, how can we deliver care more efficiently, less costly and, quite frankly, with fewer dollars?”

Improving mental health services: “Behavioral health is never going to make money, but meeting the mental health needs of our community is paramount. One thing I’m pretty proud of is the fact that we are now embedding behavioral health professionals in our primary care offices. If you go to your family doctor, increasingly we’ll have a psychologist in that same building. You don’t have to go to some mental health facility; behavioral health is part of your ongoing care. I think it’s helping to remove the stigma that’s often associated with behavioral health.”

Digital transformation: “We have to be more innovative. You can use a smart phone to make a reservation at a restaurant, or you can order things on Amazon. If you think about health care, what have we done to make it easier or more convenient for consumers? For the most part, you still can’t pick up your smart phone and make an appointment with your doctor. We’re getting there, but we’re not quite there yet.”

Biggest regret: “The thing I regret most is our inability to tackle the access-to-care issue for the uninsured and underinsured. I always say to people that the fundamental question society has to grapple with is whether health care is a right — should everybody have access to health care? When you poll the American people, the answer overwhelmingly is ‘yes.’ Yet we’ve never aligned policy with achieving that goal.”

Government’s role: “We’re never going to solve the access-tocare issue unless we have a strong policy direction. It can’t be done just by the not-for-profit world or by a single health-care system. If you say, ‘we’re just going to let free-market competition take care of the problem,’ it’s never going to happen. Nobody’s competing to take care of people who can’t pay. I’m not suggesting that government is the only solution, but I think government has to be involved.”

“We’re never going to solve the access-to-care issue unless we have a strong policy direction. It can’t be done just by the not-for-profit world or by a single health-care system. If you say, ‘we’re just going to let free-market competition take care of the problem,’ it’s never going to happen. Nobody’s competing to take care of people who can’t pay. I’m not suggesting that government is the only solution, but I think government has to be involved.”

Tags: Healthcare, Economic Backbone - Health Care