904 356-JOBS (5627)

904 356-JOBS (5627)

(Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) – Mayo Clinic of Jacksonville was able to able to adhere to its 2020 vision despite the seismic shifts in the industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic all the while maintaining profitability.

The health care giant completed several millions of dollars worth of projects this year while positioning itself to begin new projects in 2021, launch new community-driven initiatives and create new health care programs, including a massive digital monitoring program.

Overall, Mayo Clinic turned a profit throughout the Covid-19 crisis, according to its third-quarter financial disclosures. Mayo made $288 million in income on $3.65 billion in revenues in the third quarter. That’s 18% year-over-year growth in income and 7.4% growth in revenue, the system said. About 12.8% of the Clinic’s revenue came from the Southeast region. This was after being one of the few hospital networks to show a profit in the early months of the pandemic.

Mayo Clinic recently also announced the creation of a grant fund with the goal of promoting racial equity in local communities served by the organization.

Locally, the health care system also opened a Women’s Health Specialty Center dedicated to providing women with health care resources. The center is an extension of the enterprise Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health, and will use a multidisciplinary approach to treatment for a number of women’s health issues such as menopause, sexual health, hormone therapy, bone density and cardiology.

To talk about 2020 and Mayo Clinic Jax’s plans for 2021, the Business Journal set down with Dr. Kent Thielen, CEO of Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville:

What are some of the medical advances Mayo undertook this year and is expanding in 2021?

This was the first year our Discovery and Innovation Building was open. We’ve experienced continued build-out throughout the year to focus on regenerative medicine specifically. Even during the pandemic, we are trying to redefine transplants for living and deceased donors. We were able to accomplish 20 double organ transplants this year. We’ve been able to artificially create organs, including through 3d printing. We also recently completed our lung restoration center — a place where lungs that would be discarded can be healed to where they are physiologically ready to be put back into patients. The first year was setting things up, now we are in full swing. The volume will increase next year. On the second floor, we are building out a cellular manufacturing facility. That will be completed in 2021 as well.

What other construction projects are set to begin next year?

In the fourth quarter of 2021, we are planning on breaking ground on our proton/ion-therapy facility. This will be a transformational carbon ion therapy that isn’t available anywhere else. This will be the first center in North or South America. There are maybe a dozen facilities in Asia and Europe but this will be the first in America.

What was one of Mayo’s standout successes in 2020 and how will you grow that operation next year?

Our home hospital capability was an outstanding success. We created a command center — a virtual hospital — to care and monitor for patients while they recuperate at home. These patients would have normally been hospitalized but because of our tools and remote monitoring capabilities they can rest in the comfort of their homes while maintaining the same level of care they otherwise would have received in our facility. Due to covid-19 and patients’ preferences on remaining at home, we are already expanding our services due to demand. But because of this program, we’ve been able to free up vital hospital space while increasing our ability to care for patients.

What is your prognosis for Mayo Clinic Jacksonville in 2021?

A lot of uncertainty surrounds 2021, but we are very optimistic because of the vaccine. When we stopped doing elective surgeries in the early months of the pandemic, we were down more than 1,000 surgeries but we’ve since made that volume up. With vaccines coming online, we should definitely be able to keep pace with our surgery schedule. At this point, we’re definitely optimistic.

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2020/12/28/mayo-prepares-to-expand-jax-campus-digital-networ.html