By LINDA CHION KENNEY
The Riverview Woman’s Club earlier this month heard from Jason Newmyer, the newly named president and chief executive officer of the AdventHealth hospital, under construction in Riverview, off U.S. Highway 301 South.
“We’re doing site work right now, and it’s a $33 million first stage of the project that’s taking longer than we thought it would,” Newmyer said at the club’s Feb. 16 luncheon, noting the expected 2023 opening appears to be sliding into 2024.
Working with officials to determine a firm opening date, Newmyer said he expected an answer within four to six weeks.
Newmyer comes to Riverview after working as vice president/administrator for AdventHealth Dade City, formerly known as Florida Hospital Dade City, before AdventHealth launched its “consumer-centric” rebranding.
From left, Debbie Kirkland, Jason Newmyer, Diane Cusack and Jim Johnson, outside the VFW Riverview Post 8108 at 7504 Riverview Drive, site of the Feb. 16 Riverview Woman’s Club luncheon.
AdventHealth officials announced in March 2021 their plans to break ground on a $216 million, 209,000-square-foot, four-story hospital in Riverview at 9320 U.S. Highway 301 South. According to hospital officials, the first phase on the 23-acre lot includes 80 beds at opening. There’s space to expand to more than 200 beds “as the community’s demand for health care grows,” according to hospital officials. Plans call for the full-service hospital to provide emergency, cardiology, gastroenterology, orthopedic and urology services as well as obstetrics and gynecology services, including labor and delivery.
At the Feb. 16 luncheon, Newmyer spoke about the hospital’s nonprofit status, its emphasis on patient care, its mission as a community-based hospital and the need to fill the void that burgeoning demand presents.
“As we do that,” Newmyer said, “we know that there’s going to be challenges, there’s going to be turbulence and there’s going to be road work.”
As for dealing with the gridlock traffic that has become a staple of Riverview life for U.S. 301 motorists, Newmyer said that if he “had a silver bullet on [how to fix] that one, I think I’d be a [well-paid] consultant.”
Nevertheless, one possible aid is to add access via Balm Riverview Road, if possible, through land AdventHealth owns, Newmyer said.
Newmyer answers to Mike Schultz, president and CEO for the West Florida division of AdventHealth, a faith-based, not-for-profit health care mission with hundreds of care sites and nearly 50 hospitals nationwide, including “30 across the central Florida corridor from Daytona Beach to Tampa,” Newmyer said.
Linda Chion Kenney Photos: Standing are Jill Jofko, president of the Riverview Woman’s Club, with Feb. 16 luncheon speaker Jason Newmyer, the newly named president and chief executive officer of AdventHealth Riverview Hospital, under construction off U.S. 301 South.
At the Feb. 16 luncheon, Newmyer said he was thankful to work for a nonprofit organization. “Our mission is to extend the healing ministry of Christ,” Newmyer said. “We have 80,000 team members from different walks of life, and everybody knows that compassion has to be a part of their day-to-day [obligations]. That’s non-negotiable.”
Often, people believe patient care “is just about the patient,” Newmyer said. “I’ll tell you, the person by the beside sometimes is carrying more stress and anxiety than the person actually in the bed getting the care. I can attest to that.”
Newmyer shared that he and his wife, married 16 years, have two healthy children, but lost a third child at birth. At the time, he had been working in the health care industry for 10 years and was watching his wife, a nurse, fight for her life.
“I was treated with great care and compassion, and it wasn’t at a hospital that I ever worked at,” Newmyer said. “That happens every day in our hospitals, and it doesn’t have to be losing a baby. It could be someone fell. It could be someone got in a car accident. Someone’s having chest pains. Someone’s having a throbbing headache that just won’t go away.”
In these instances, “The only thing that we can control is that we show compassion in those moments,” Newmyer said. “I feel so blessed to work for a company that asks me to be sensitive and thoughtful and to step into the void in those tough moments and to wrap our arms around [people in distress], figuratively or literally, to let them know their loved one is cared for. I’m excited to bring that to Riverview.”
For more, visit www.AdventHealth.com and search for “Riverview.”