WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
A career in the Air Force, specializing in nuclear weapons, isn’t exactly the background you’d expect a prestigious hospital’s President and Chief Executive Officer to have. But it was precisely that background that made HCA Florida Blake Hospital’s Steve Nierman so passionate about serving others.
Originally from Indiana, Steve attended the Air Force Academy and went into active duty until 1997. From there, he went into the health insurance field, where he would negotiate contracts with hospitals, and that’s where he met his wife, Angie. They lived in Central Florida as Steve worked with a large health care system for 14 years. In September, Angie was hired by HCA and introduced Steve to the leadership there. Dr. Ravi Chari, President and CEO of HCA Healthcare West Florida Division, told Steve that he had a job that he’d like him to interview for. When Steve said, “I’m not interviewing,” Dr. Chari replied, “Well, you should.” Sure enough, after interviewing, Steve got the job, and he and Angie started at HCA Florida Blake Hospital the same day.
Angie and Steve have one son who, by complete coincidence, is named Blake. He attends college in Orlando, studying Digital Media. On weekends, Steve and Angie take advantage of living on the water by taking out their boat, jet ski, or heading to the beaches.
“Growing up in the Midwest, I always dreamed of living in Florida, but in my dream, it was on the beach, not in the middle of the state. When we were given the opportunity to move to Bradenton, we took it. It’s a great community in a beautiful area with wonderful people. We’re very happy with the community and very pleased with our roles within HCA and Blake Hospital. We’ve been here about nine months, and we’ll be here for a long time,” Steve says.
Preparing for the Future
It’s no surprise that Steve and Angie fell in love with the area so quickly. With so many others doing the same, not only is the state of Florida rapidly growing but so is Manatee County. Such an uptick in growth caused a need for expansion. June brought the completion of a $30 million expansion project to Blake Hospital. This project included four new operating rooms, shell space for three future operating rooms, 12 post-anesthesia care bays, and upgrades to existing surgical support space. Additionally, the entire fifth floor of the hospital was renovated into a brand-new Burn Intensive Care Unit. The BICU features 12 state-of-the-art ICU rooms, a procedure room, a consultative room, and a family waiting area.
“That was a large investment that we made in this community to expand surgical and critical care capabilities, two of the most important things your hospital can provide,” Steve states. “We’re positioned for the future.”
HCA Florida Blake Hospital is one of only six Florida hospitals with a state-certified burn program. What does that require? For starters, a team of highly trained plastic microvascular surgeons who are able to graft skin and reattach limbs. It also takes highly trained and certified nurses. Let’s not forget the unique technology like hyperbaric oxygen chambers that help patients’ healing process and tissue growth.
Additionally, the new operating rooms accommodate burn patients as they require unique configurations regarding temperature control. This is something that very few hospitals can offer, especially with the unique skill set of a surgeon who has been fellowship-trained and board-certified in burn and reconstructive surgery. That’s very rare and Blake has two of the best surgeons for the job.
The burn program continues to expand as more patients are coming from a greater distance because it’s such a specialized program. “But this community is also growing a lot. You have to be ready for it. I don’t think it’s going to stop. Part of that is building the shell operating rooms. We don’t know exactly when we’re going to need them in the future, but we know that we will because this state and especially this region will continue to swell,” Steve explains.
Part of the upgrades to the operating rooms includes having four surgical robots, which is more than any other hospital in the county. Minimally invasive surgery has been a substantial medical development in recent years. A surgeon is on the other side of the room while the patient is under several robotic arms, but the surgeon controls them. What that allows the surgeon to do is be extremely precise. It enhances their vision and field of view way beyond what it had been before. They can manipulate multiple arms at the same time and lock them in place.
“Surgeons have expensive toys!” Steve jokes. “It’s really impressive to see. At the end of the day, it’s a better outcome. You have smaller incisions, less risk of infection and bleeding, much more precision, and a high ability to identify where you are within the body.” The surgeons at Blake Hospital use these robotics to perform gynecological surgery, urology surgery, general surgery, and even lung cancer surgery.
HCA Florida is the largest health system in the state which allows HCA Florida Blake Hospital to be not just a community hospital but also a tertiary care hospital. This means the hospital can provide some of the highest levels of healthcare and specialized expertise to its patients. Some of these healthcare specialties include a trauma program, a burn program, a comprehensive stroke program with neurosurgical intervention, and a very significant physician training program. Blake Hospital is also a designated referral center by HCA, so they receive patients daily from other HCA Florida hospitals needing these specialized services.
While Steve enjoyed his service in the military, feeling proud and honored about his work in the Air Force, he says that at Blake Hospital, that feeling is even more so. “Not a day goes by when we don’t have patients we know. Just this morning, one of our elected officials in town asked if we could check on so-and-so for them. Every day I see patients. I really have no clinical training but seeing people that you’re helping with their health is rewarding. I don’t think I would ever be in a career where I wasn’t able to see the customer or patients. Sitting in an office just wouldn’t cut it for me.”
Even though the expansion has only been open since June, the impact it has already had has been immense. It allows surgeons to accommodate patients any time of day whereas, in many hospitals, you have limited resources, only so many operating rooms, and there are surgeons vying to get their patients scheduled into the operating room. Now that Blake Hospital has more capacity, they always have an operating room and a critical care space, and Steve doesn’t ever see patients not being able to get care as an issue.
Not Just About Patients
Steve also understands that the patients aren’t the only important members of a hospital. HCA Florida Blake Hospital, being a large institutional hospital, is one of the largest employers in our community. As the administrator, Steve has oversight over two of the most essential things: high-quality care and a focus on service. “Not only with the folks that we consider our team (about 1,200 caregivers) but the doctors as well (several hundred). It’s a complex operation, so it must be efficient and run smoothly. To be successful in that, you have to focus on your people. So that’s what it’s all about.”
To help facilitate that, a behind-the-scenes aspect of the recent expansion included a $6.8 million kitchen and dining renovation project in the hospital cafeteria, which Steve called “an investment in our people.”
“What they really find important is food,” he laughs. “But it’s not just the food; it’s the social interaction when you go to lunch, and you can actually talk to your coworkers.”
It’s evident to people in our region and the state that Blake Hospital is a leader in high-quality care and specialized medical services and that quality is an immeasurable asset trickles down from CEO Steve Nierman to the patients and to the doctors and caregivers.
