North Walton Doctors Hospital coming to Walton County in 2024
DEFUNIAK SPRINGS — Health care services will finally return to northern Walton County as North Walton Healthcare Campus LLC has closed on 35 acres that once housed the former Healthmark Regional Medical Center.
With medical services returning on Jan. 1, the new hospital will now be called North Walton Doctors Hospital.
The goal is to return emergency medical services, surgical procedures, advanced imaging and comprehensive laboratory services to the community.
Why did Healthmark close?
In March 2022, Healthmark announced it would close its emergency room for up to one month for renovations on the outdated emergency room. In May 2022, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported that the center had failed to pay staff in weeks, and by that August, the emergency room was still closed.
In September, it was reported that Braden Health was considering buying Healthmark Regional. However, those talks had fallen through, leading to the doors being shut by the end of the year.
"Changing the culture"
The hospital's reopening is not just a revival of services, but a rebranding. This process is being led by the newly appointed CEO of North Walton Doctors Hospital, Huy Nguyen.
During his time as the CEO at Doctors Memorial Hospital in Bonfiay, Nguyen led a turnaround that doubled revenues for the hospital while increasing patient satisfaction ratings from 2.3 to 4.0 stars on Google reviews, according to a company news release.
"It really begins by changing the culture of an organization," Nguyen said in a statement. "In Bonifay, we made it clear to everyone that works at the hospital that our patients are our customers, and the goal is for everyone who walks through our doors to receive excellent customer service.
"We also made significant investments in technology," he added. "We are one of the few rural hospitals in the state offering robotic surgery. I don't let the fact that we are rural become an excuse for not keeping up with the newest trends in healthcare. This is a part of the larger plan to bring high-quality health care to DeFuniak Springs."
The hospital said customer service and a commitment to innovation are central to the new strategy of North Walton Doctors Hospital is the commitment to customer service and innovative practices. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Nguyen, hospital pharmacist Warren Bailey and the rest of the staff in Bonifay were among the first to offer monoclonal antibody treatments and drive-by testing. Because of this, the 20-bed hospital treated patients from 49 different zip codes. The most in the state of Florida.
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“This is how physician-led healthcare can really reshape healthcare for the better," said Dr. Jon Ward in a statement. Dr. Ward is also an investor in the revitalization program in Walton County. “The reopening of this facility is less about making money and more about saving lives. Fortunately, I think we have a great opportunity to do both.”
The impact of the hospital
The Walton Economic Development Alliance data showed that many residents in the county's north end have more than a 30-minute drive to reach medical attention.
“It’s been shown that with heart attacks and strokes, the number one factor in mortality is how close is your nearest emergency room,” Nguyen said. “By simply getting these doors open and providing cardiac protocols and stroke protocols in time to make a difference, we start saving lives on day one. You really can’t place a price tag on that.”
To help with more funding, Ward and Ngyuen will be at Tuesday's Walton County Board of County Commissioners meeting. The hospital expects to add 110 jobs to the Walton County workforce by the end of 2024.
“Healthcare is a vital part of the community infrastructure," Ward said. "An emergency room and specialty care being here adds the last missing ingredient for economic success. North Walton County is rapidly growing, the county schools are top-notch, and the people are among the best in America. The county making a small investment in our success will pay a huge return on that investment over the next decade.”
This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Renewed Health: North Walton's Hospital set to reopen
