When Tara McCoy was named Good Samaritan Medical Center’s CEO in October 2017, her goal was to take the hospital’s high-quality patient care to the next level.
“To take some of those services that we do really well, enhance them, look at ways to do creative partnerships with high quality providers and to really look at innovation,” she said.
Ms. McCoy said the Palm Beach Civic Association has been instrumental in connecting her with people who can give her feedback on the hospital’s medical services.
“Part of what I did when I first came on was to try and understand what Palm Beach needs,’ Ms. McCoy said. “Part of it was working with the Palm Beach Civic Association and working to better integrate with the community to get those questions answered.”
Good Samaritan Medical Center is a great community partner and has been the co-sponsor of the Palm Beach Civic Association Annual Awards Luncheon for many years.
Ms. McCoy was the first female CEO in Good Samaritan’s nearly 100-year history and the youngest of Tenet Health System’s Palm Beach County hospitals. The hospital has 333 beds and serves 140,000 patients each year.
Good Samaritan is well known for its exceptional cancer treatments, Ms. McCoy said.
“We have a full scope of breast cancer services,” she said. “There are genetic counselors that can catch the disease at the front end and a breast cancer center with the highest level of technology. Good Samaritan also has some high-end services that aren’t offered many other places in the United States.”
One of those services is Gamma Knife radiosurgery, a type of treatment for brain tumors that involves no cutting.
Ms. McCoy said that Good Samaritan has “hands down the best nursing unit for cancer anywhere in Palm Beach County.” The nurses in that unit have over 30 years of experience, she said.
“We’re into treating people,” Ms. McCoy said. “That’s what we do in terms of making a difference and seeing the difference in individual lives. Cancer care is one thing we do, but we also do cardiac care. Patients in this community who have a heart attack are headed to us. We’re the first hospital in Palm Beach County designated as a resuscitation center. We have many accreditations for the cardiac program. We do everything you can – other than open heart surgery – and we work with a sister hospital for that.”
EMS response time in getting patients to the hospital is critical to recovery, she said. Ms. McCoy spoke about a 30-year-old woman who suffered a serious heart attack and was quickly brought to Good Samaritan by EMS. They immediately got her into the hospital’s Cath Lab and, within two months later, the woman back and in great health.
“The Town of Palm Beach is the best,” she said. “The Town of Palm Beach is so quick if there’s ever anything that happens on the island in terms of their reaction time.”
Robotic surgery is the future of healthcare and Good Samaritan Medical Center is the busiest robotic surgery hospital in northern Palm Beach County, Ms. McCoy said. The hospital currently has three robots.
“Google is looking to develop a robot for surgery,” she said. “They’ve partnered with Johnson & Johnson. There are a lot of exciting developments coming and we’re working on the early stages with them to see how we can take that program and enhance what we’re doing here.”
Coming up on June 24, the hospital will be opening an off-campus emergency department June 24 at the corner of Okeechobee Blvd. and Haverhill Road. It will be a 24-hour emergency department offering an array of services without inpatient beds.
Good Samaritan’s main campus will be opening four new state-of-the-art operating rooms.
In addition, the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), a renowned orthopedic center based in New York, will be opening its West Palm Beach branch in January across from Good Samaritan on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard. HSS will be doing outpatient surgery and physical therapy in their new building, but any inpatient surgeries will be performed at Good Samaritan, Ms. McCoy said.
“I get a lot of questions from Palm Beach about this,” she said.
Ms. McCoy holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tulane University and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of South Florida. She’s been with Tenet Healthcare, Good Samaritan’s parent company, since January 2012, where she served as Regional Director of the Cardiovascular Service Line, Florida Division, and Service Line Administrator, Coastal Division, before being appointed CEO of Good Samaritan Medical Center.
“I look at Good Sam as a hospital in a beautiful area,” she said. “It’s been here for 100 years and, hopefully, will be here for 100 years or more. It’s really a hospital that serves an interesting community. We should be doing high touch, high quality healthcare and working very closely with the community to understand what those needs are.”
“The Civic Association would like to thank Good Samaritan for being a great community partner with the Civic Association and our Annual Awards luncheon, serving as a Co-Sponsor of this signature event for many years,” said Ned Barnes, Civic Association President. “We are very proud to recognize their sponsorship.”
