
22 | F LO R I DA P HYS I C IAN
GUEST COLUMN BY DAVID S. GUZICK, MD, PhD
Forward Together, UF Health's 2010
strategic plan, focused on clinical excellence
built around the individual patient
as the driver for our core missions —
patient care, education and research. A few key
principles included locating new primary care
offices in neighborhoods where patients live
and work; creating hubs with new buildings for
specialty care; fostering a culture in which faculty
draw on the latest evidence-based knowledge in
their specialty and on state-of-the-art technology;
tailoring care to individual patient needs in a
humanistic, personalized manner; and focusing
on hospitality, service and the patient experience
throughout the organization.
College of Medicine faculty and staff embraced
these ideas. Working in concert with UF Health
Shands Hospital, the quality of the clinical services
they provided led to tremendous growth in patient
demand. There were increases in patient visits to
faculty from the local community and region, more
referrals from all over the state and beyond, and
growth in hospital-to-hospital transfers. We became
recognized as the go-to place in Florida for expert