The Power of Together

Forward Together was the first strategic plan for UF Health, the University of Florida’s academic health center. Published on May 20, 2010, Forward Together has served as our roadmap in serving the education, research and service missions of the University of Florida.

The fundamental idea was that great things would happen if faculty, staff, hospital administration and UF leadership came together to work collaboratively with a commitment to excellence. It worked.

• Our patients and our community became the center of all we do.
• “We and they” became “us.”
• The quality of patient care markedly improved.
• Growth in clinical volumes and financial performance followed, allowing us to invest in the research efforts of new and existing faculty.
• Consequently, National Institutes of Health funding grew substantially despite a flat NIH budget nationally.
• Curricular innovations have occurred or are planned in each college.
• New buildings for patient care, research and education have been completed or are under construction with funds that have been internally generated.

And all of this success and excitement has attracted philanthropic support, superb students and highly accomplished new faculty, spurring continued momentum in patient care, research and education.

Building on Forward Together, we now embark on UF Health’s second five-year strategic plan. Called The Power of Together, it was launched yesterday at festive events at our two UF Health campuses. The joining of faculty and hospitals into a functionally integrated academic health center with a presence in Gainesville and Jacksonville has indeed become a powerful force.

At these events, we shared a video that highlighted many of our achievements during these past five years. After remarks from President Fuchs, we heard from several individuals in Gainesville and Jacksonville who described their personal experiences and their perceptions of how we have evolved. Please visit bridge.UFHealth.org/poweroftogether, where you will find recordings of yesterday’s events, the celebration video highlighting some of our accomplishments over the past five years, and The Power of Together plan in full.

The Power of Together builds on Forward Together in terms of how our missions of patient care, research, education and community service are advanced. Our vision, however, remains the same:

Together we strive to create unstoppable momentum toward the goal of improving individual and community health through discovery, clinical and translational science and technology, exceptional education, and patient-centered, innovative, high-quality health care.

To achieve this vision, we will accelerate the momentum created under Forward Together by fostering an expanding virtuous circle in which the size, scope and stature of UF Health grows by way of enhanced patient care, research and education:

In this way, we will contribute to the University of Florida’s continued recognition as a top research university by advancing science, training the next generation of health care professionals, and improving patient care and the quality of life in our community. Hundreds of faculty, staff and students worked on setting new goals for the next five years, and on the strategies to achieve them, as shown in the Appendix to The Power of Together. These are our priorities through 2020:

Patient Care

• Quality remains Job 1: “Strive for five” stars in quality and safety among academic health centers nationally.
• Create clinical programs and services of national stature to meet the increasing demand for care.

Research

• Maximize the scientific impact of the state’s investment in UF preeminence programs by advancing knowledge in biomedical and population science.
• Facilitate collaborative research across UF through the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute.
• Bring scientific discovery and technology into commercial use to improve health.

Education

• Train graduates who excel and lead in clinical care, science, teaching and community health.
• Become a national model for interprofessional education.
• Enhance the preeminence of graduate education.

Community Engagement

• Improve overall health and quality of life by engaging people and communities throughout the region.

Growth & Expansion

• Continue to generate resources through the clinical enterprise and philanthropy that enable expansion and enhancement of our ability to serve UF’s missions of education, research and service.

The progress we made under Forward Together, and the continued successes we will achieve under The Power of Together, would not be possible without your dedication and commitment. Go UF Health and Go Gators!

The Power of Together,

David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D. Senior Vice President for Health Affairs, UF President, UF Health