Expected to open in 2025, the TGH Behavioral
Health Hospital will expand access to world-class behavioral health
services and train the state's future behavioral health
workforce.
TAMPA,
Fla., June 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa
General Hospital (TGH), the region's only academic health system,
announced Doug Leonardo as the new
president and CEO of the TGH Behavioral Health Hospital, effective
July 1. In his new role, Leonardo
will oversee behavioral health services across the entire TGH
system and manage day-to-day operations in collaboration with
Lifepoint Behavioral Health, a business unit of Lifepoint Health,
at the new state-of-the-art facility.
"We're excited to welcome a world-class leader in behavioral
health to the TGH team," said John
Couris, president and CEO at Tampa General. "With the
leadership of Doug Leonardo, the TGH
Behavioral Health Hospital will be a premier destination for
patients across the region and beyond to access best-in-class
academic-based behavioral health services, as well as the latest
research findings and techniques to address the most complex mental
health challenges."
Leonardo brings more than 25 years of experience in behavioral
health, having developed and implemented strategies to increase
access to care, improve the cost of care and develop services in
new markets. He has successfully integrated behavioral health care
services at 12 hospitals and emergency departments in Florida's largest metropolitan areas.
"The TGH Behavioral Health Hospital will play a critical role in
reshaping the behavioral health landscape," said Leonardo. "We're
combining state-of-the-art facilities with experienced providers
and compassionate teams to fill the need for behavioral health
services and build more resilient communities. I look forward to
contributing my expertise and experience to build a model of
behavioral health care for the state of Florida."
Leonardo joins Tampa General from Humana, where he served as
vice president of Medicaid Behavioral Health. Prior to working with
Humana, Leonardo was senior vice president of operations at
Chrysalis Health, a large provider organization. He has also served
as executive director for BayCare Behavioral Health.
"We are pleased to welcome Doug
Leonardo to our team at Lifepoint Behavioral Health and know
he will be a strong leader for the TGH Behavioral Health Hospital,"
said Russ Bailey, president,
Lifepoint Behavioral Health. "As a seasoned leader and executive
with more than two decades of experience in behavioral health care,
he is well-equipped to build and lead a patient-focused,
multidisciplinary team of caregivers. We look forward to partnering
with Doug and the TGH Behavioral Health Hospital team as we expand
access to leading-edge academic medical care in Tampa Bay and advance our mission of making
communities healthier."
Leonardo is a sought-after leader on behavioral health issues,
having served as chair and president of the Florida Behavioral
Health Association Board. He was appointed by Florida's Senate President in 2019 to serve on
the Florida Commission on Mental
Health and Substance Use Disorders. He served on Governor
Ron DeSantis' transition team in
2018, shaping the state's approach to mental health issues. In
2015, Leonardo was appointed by Governor Rick Scott to serve on the Florida Drug Policy
Advisory Council.
"Doug Leonardo is an amazing
choice to lead this hospital," said Dr. Ryan Wagoner, professor and chair, Department of
Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at the USF Health Morsani
College of Medicine. "We are excited to partner with someone with
his wide breadth of experience across multiple areas of behavioral
health and who has a real passion for this patient population. His
leadership in multiple organizations at the state level speaks to
his commitment to patients and advancing psychiatric treatment. His
drive to facilitate high-quality care will dovetail nicely with our
academic medicine model, where we are pursuing excellence in
clinical care, teaching and research at the new behavioral health
hospital."
The TGH Behavioral Health Hospital, expected to open in 2025,
will offer highly specialized and personalized care for many
behavioral and mental health conditions. Tampa General has teamed
up with Lifepoint Behavioral Health, which specializes in
providing compassionate care across the behavioral health care
continuum, to manage daily operations. Physicians with the
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at the USF
Morsani College of Medicine will offer a full range of inpatient
and outpatient care in specialized units for child, adolescent,
adult and geriatric patients.
The Florida Legislature passed legislation this year that
establishes the TGH Behavioral Health Hospital as one of the
state's first four behavioral health teaching hospitals. The new
law was designed to advance Florida's behavioral health systems of care by
creating a new integrated care and education model. With an
emphasis on research, the behavioral health teaching hospitals will
provide inpatient and outpatient behavioral health care, address
system-wide behavioral health needs, and provide treatment and care
for those who need long-term voluntary or involuntary civil
commitment. In collaboration with the state, universities and
private organizations, behavioral health teaching hospitals will
also provide leading-edge education and training to strengthen
Florida's behavioral health
workforce.
The TGH Behavioral Health Hospital is located at 1303 West
Kennedy Boulevard. It will serve as an integral part of the Tampa
Medical and Research District, a hub of world-class clinical care,
academics, research and biotechnology, anchored by TGH and USF
Health. The hospital is planned to be approximately 83,000 square
feet with 96 inpatient beds and will feature dedicated space for
treating patients with behavioral health issues compounded by other
medical conditions.
ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL
HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 981-bed, not-for-profit,
academic health system, is one of the largest hospitals in America
and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level
l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the
highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World
Report's 2023-24 Best Hospitals, with six specialties ranking among
the top 50 best hospital programs in the
United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as
a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top
Hospitals list. The academic health system's commitment to
growing and developing its team members is recognized by three
prestigious Forbes magazine rankings – in the top 100 nationally in
the 2024 America's Best Large Employers, the 2023 America's Best
Employers for Women, and the top 25 in Florida in the 2023 America's Best Employers
by State. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region,
caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in
fiscal year 2022, provided a net community benefit of approximately
$240.3 million in the form of health
care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial
support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest
adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching
hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five
medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically
injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the
advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally
accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed
Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast
of Florida. It also is home to the Muma Children's Hospital at
TGH, the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit,
and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General
Hospital's footprint includes TGH North which is comprised of three
hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties, 17 Tampa General Medical
Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH
Outpatient Center, TGH Virtual Health, and 21 TGH Imaging
outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm
Beach counties. Tampa Bay
area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH
Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics. To see a
medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone,
tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital
(tgh.org). As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa
General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open
a clinical command center that provides real-time situational
awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower
cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.
ABOUT USF HEALTH
USF Health's mission is to envision
and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the
USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the
College of Public Health, the Taneja College of Pharmacy, the
School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, the
Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs, and USF
Health's multispecialty physicians' group. The University of South Florida, a high-impact research
university dedicated to student success and committed to community
engagement, generates an annual economic impact of more than
$6 billion. Through hundreds of
millions of dollars in research activity each year, USF is a leader
in solving global problems and improving lives. For more
information, visit health.usf.edu.
ABOUT LIFEPOINT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Lifepoint Behavioral
Health specializes in providing compassionate care across the
behavioral healthcare continuum. Through its 24 behavioral health
hospitals and contract management and joint venture partnerships
with hospitals and providers across the country, Lifepoint
Behavioral Health offers programs designed to address the unique
needs of various patient populations, including adolescents, adults
and geriatrics. Lifepoint Behavioral Health has diversified
programming, allowing specific therapy models of treatment while
encompassing the whole person. These treatment models provide
evidence-based therapies with distinct short- and long-term goals
of improving and sustaining mental health. Lifepoint Behavioral
Health is a business unit of Brentwood,
Tennessee-based Lifepoint Health.
|
Media
Contact:
|
USF Health Media
Contact: Sarah Worth
|
|
Amanda Bevis
|
Director of
Communications
|
|
(202) 680-9262
(cell)
|
(813)
928-0861
|
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amanda@redhillsfl.com
|
sworth@usf.edu
|
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SOURCE Tampa General Hospital