New CEO Cory Mead Leading HCA Florida Palms West Hospital During Major Period Of Growth
By Patrick Sherry
Steel beams and fresh concrete are creating a new foundation for the future of healthcare at HCA Florida Palms West Hospital. Just months into his tenure as the new CEO, Cory Mead is overseeing multimillion-dollar projects to expand the hospital and its services.
HCA Florida Palms West Hospital, located on Southern Blvd. just north of Wellington, is expanding with $130 million in approved projects underway. Mead is leading the hospital through one of the largest investments in its 40-year history. These projects will expand capacity and modernize facilities to meet the increasing demand for healthcare in the community.
“People come to us on the worst days in their life, and people come to us on some of the happiest days in their life… We’ve established ourselves in the community for the last four decades, and we’re building and preparing for the next 40 years as well,” Mead said. “I want the community to know that they can trust us.”
Mead has worked in operations for parent company HCA Healthcare for 13 years. His experience spans across multiple hospitals in different states. He began his career at HCA in Kansas City, Missouri, and he later took his first chief operating officer role in Nashville, Tennessee. While moving up the corporate ladder, he eventually moved to South Florida to be closer to his wife’s family and became the CEO of HCA Florida Woodmont Hospital in Tamarac in Broward County. While there, he oversaw more than $60 million in capital projects that expanded its services.
In March, Mead joined HCA Florida Palms West Hospital as the new CEO. He said the move was a natural fit because he already lives in Palm Beach County, and he wanted to transition to overseeing a larger hospital with considerable growth potential.
Mead believes that his experience working at smaller hospitals and different medical settings has prepared him for success at one of the largest healthcare providers in the state.
“I’ve always felt very fortunate to serve in these roles and be a part of a hospital’s legacy because all of these organizations will be here much longer than all of us probably will,” he said.
As the CEO, Mead is pursuing a strategy to build a strong team of staff, physicians, and administrators who can help continue improving the quality of service to residents and enhance the hospital’s operations.
“My priority is executing on that construction agenda, but then also… the culture and people agenda,” Mead explained. “If you can’t put high-performing teams and physicians in those care spaces to take care of patients, it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day.”
The hospital serves much of the central and western parts of the county with its 94-acre campus and 207-bed acute care facility. Its 24/7 emergency room and specialized medical care units give patients comprehensive, personalized medical services that meet their needs. The new capital projects under construction will expand the hospital’s ability to keep providing these essential services to the community.
“We’ve got a lot of investment going back into the hospital and in the community,” Mead said.
The projects include a new 42-bed inpatient building expansion, a 10-bed expansion of the adult emergency department, a new cardiac catheterization lab and biplane imaging equipment for stroke treatment, renovations to the women’s and children’s units, and a new freestanding emergency room on Okeechobee Blvd. Mead said his team expects many of these projects to be completed next year.
HCA Florida Palms West Hospital’s push toward expanding capacity and modernizing its facilities represents a broader initiative to keep pace with growing demand. Since the hospital opened in 1986, Palm Beach County has experienced rapid population growth, especially here in the western communities.
Mead said that for the hospital to maintain its position as one of the premier health care providers in the area, it has to adapt and expand to meet demand.
“All of those things are being done in an effort to keep up… with the population growth that we’re seeing, the demographic change and shift that we’re seeing here in Palm Beach County,” he explained. “I think it’s really important for the hospital to stay in step with the population growth and the needs of the community.”
During those 40 years, HCA Florida Palms West Hospital has established itself as one of the most valued healthcare providers in the area. More than 900 employees and 790 physicians treat thousands of patients every year.
“I’ve generally received good feedback in regard to our projects here, because it means we’re adding jobs, we’re adding physical investment into the community, and we’re adding services that our families and kids can access when they need us the most,” Mead said.
The hospital is one of several facilities that make up HCA Florida Healthcare’s network. With more than 650 healthcare locations and 11,000 physicians, it is the largest collection of hospitals in the state. Last year alone, the network invested $5 billion in capital projects to improve access and care in multiple communities.
Mead believes that access is one of the most important services a hospital can provide. Through the new infrastructure projects, residents can receive emergency treatment and specialized medical care quickly.
“Over time, you have to change and adapt. That means looking at your current services and your current bricks and mortar in order to see how we can enhance those care settings in those environments of care, but also add new ones,” Mead said.
Mead added that he hopes residents will continue to view the hospital as a trusted partner when they need it the most. His team is looking to further invest in the hospital’s future to preserve its service to the community that has relied on it for the past four decades.
“The investment now will have ripple effects for decades and really set us up for success in order to continue to take care of everybody who chooses to live in the western Palm Beach County area,” Mead said.
HCA Florida Palms West Hospital is located at 13001 Southern Blvd. To learn more about the hospital and the medical services it provides, visit www.hcafloridahealthcare.com/locations/palms-west-hospital.
