By LOIS KINDLE
After more than two years of advanced training and associated work experience, critical care nurse Lauren Escamilla has returned home as the new director of surgery services for HCA Florida South Shore Hospital.
“I’m pleased that Lauren has returned to South Shore Hospital as an accomplished leader, delivering excellent surgical outcomes,” said CEO Cathy Edmisten. “She’s returning at an exciting time for us as we develop a new neurosurgical program and meet our community’s growing healthcare needs.
LISA MARIE PHOTO
Lauren Escamilla is seen here with her fiancé, Lorenzo Duarte, of Apollo Beach, and her daughters Chloe, 12, left, and Victoria, 11.
“I want to get her involved with organizations in the community to demonstrate how HCA Healthcare develops its workforce to lead our organization into the future.”
Escamilla, a resident of Apollo Beach, headed off to Nashville in January 2023 to take part in HCA Healthcare’s Director Development Program. She was one of only 33 HCA Healthcare employees selected out of hundreds nationwide who applied for the program and one of only two selected from HCA’s West Florida Division.
Excited for the opportunity and a bit nervous at the time, she’s returned as a confident executive ready to take on new challenges. She said she wanted to come back as South Shore Hospital’s director of surgery services and ultimately become its CEO.
“I was definitely looking to serve here in this position and am excited to be back in this community,” Escamilla said. “I hope to stay here and continue in leadership. My next step will be vice president of operations.”
The 32-year-old’s comeback involved a promotion from the same position at HCA Florida Highlands Hospital in Sebring. She replaced the similarly promoted Cami Bliss, who transferred to the larger HCA Florida Doctors Hospital in Sarasota.
As director of surgical services at South Shore Hospital, Escamilla has 24/7 responsibility for leading and overseeing daily operations of its surgical departments, including the OR, Pre-op, Post-op, Endoscopy and Sterile Processing. She’s also responsible for enforcing national and HCA Healthcare’s standards of care and for ensuring consistent compliance.
It’s a big role, but she’s ready for it.
Coming full circle
One of South Shore’s own, Escamilla was born at Brandon Regional Hospital and raised in Apollo Beach. She attended Apollo Beach Elementary and Eisenhower Middle schools before graduating from East Bay High School in 2011.
She enrolled in Everett University School of Nursing in Tampa, where she earned an associate degree as a registered nurse. While taking classes and studying as a single parent, she worked as an OR assistant, mopping floors and cleaning rooms in between surgeries at Brandon Regional Hospital. Upon graduating from Everett and passing her board exams, she became part of HCA’s Star RN Program there, which helped her adapt to the role of nursing in the operating room.
To gain more trauma experience, Escamilla decided to join BayCare Health on St. Joseph Hospital’s trauma team, enrolled in Chamberlain University’s online nursing program and earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2018.
HCA HEALTHCARE PHOTO
South Shore’s own Lauren Escamilla is the new director of surgical services at HCA Florida South Shore Hospital in Sun City Center.
In 2020, attracted to HCA’s growth opportunities, she returned to HCA Healthcare as South Shore Hospital’s critical care nurse manager.
The following year, her department received a Unit of Distinction Award as No. 7 out of all HCA hospitals across the country in patient care with a 99% ICU patient satisfaction rating. Before leaving the hospital for leadership training, she worked as interim medical/surgical nurse director.
Escamilla’s parents reside in Apollo Beach, and she’s engaged to marry Apollo Beach resident and engineer Lorenzo Duarte. Her daughters, Chloe, 12, and Victoria, 11, are students at Apollo Beach K-8 School.
“It feels great being back at South Shore Hospital and in the community I grew up in,” Escamilla said. “I love serving the people who live here and ensuring their safety. I look forward to going out to meet with members of the community as a representative of the hospital.”