CORAL GABLES HOSPITAL’S DR. GILBERT BEAUPERTHUY-ROJAS ON BUILDING TEAMS WITH INNOVATIVE MINDS
Orthopedic Surgeon Gilbert Beauperthuy-Rojas, DO, knows Coral Gables Hospital. Not only because he serves as director of its Orthopedic Center of Excellence, but because he’s been supporting the hospital since becoming a volunteer there at just 17 years old. Upon graduating from Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Beauperthuy-Rojas dove into a career in private practice and affiliated with Coral Gables Hospital, where he established the Orthopedic Center of Excellence in 2015. In 2017, under his leadership, the 245-bed hospital became the first facility in Miami-Dade area to achieve certification for both total-hip and total-knee replacement from the Joint Commission. Here, Dr. Beauperthuy-Rojas talks about this achievement, as well as the biggest challenge facing the healthcare industry – and more: Q: Tell us about your proudest moment at Coral Gables Hospital. GB: I've been with this hospital since I went into private practice 23 years ago. My proudest moment was establishing the Orthopedic Center of Excellence within the hospital. I took on that challenge about three years ago and developed a program that delivers excellent orthopedic care to the community. We were already doing great things here, so I approached the administration with the idea that we could make it even better by establishing guidelines for physicians and by ensuring that all patients
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receive top-notch care. With the backing of our fearless CEO, Cristina Jimenez, we pursued the Joint Commission certification by establishing the center in 2015, presenting the updated guidelines to other physicians, and working with them to ensure they understood all the initiatives and goals. Our commitment to success resulted in securing the Joint Commission certification in 2017. In the process, we took a small community hospital and created a program that is now the envy of all orthopedic programs in the area. We suddenly started getting calls from other hospitals to learn how they might establish a similar program. I'm quite proud of that. Q: What goals do you have for the Orthopedic Center of Excellence? GB: I wish to obtain the advanced certification with the Joint Commission. We've applied for it and are working hard to achieve that goal by spring 2019. I also hope be recognized by Becker's Hospital Review as an Orthopedic Center of Excellence. To achieve these goals, we've established a stringent set of criteria, including reducing our readmission rate, limiting our surgical-site infection rates, and increasing our discharge-to-home vs. discharge-to-rehab rates. Q: What advice would you offer other orthopedic directors? GB: Make it a point to surround yourself with dedicated people with innovative minds – and then listen to them. My team consists of Chief Nursing Officer Jessica Miller, RN, who is brilliant, and with other great nurses – all of whom embody a spirit of true teamwork. They also believe that putting the patient first is paramount.
Q: What is the biggest challenge facing the healthcare industry? GB: Cost containment and delivering higher quality healthcare top the list. All areas in healthcare are strained, specifically hospitals and physicians. The cost of care is going up, but there is no increase in reimbursements. So, it's up to us to control rising costs, while also improving care delivery – which presents quite a challenge for us as leaders and physicians. Q: Outside of healthcare, what is your passion? GB: I have done about 20 triathlons in my lifetime, both the Olympic distance and the full Ironman – two, in fact. When training, I complete 15 hours of exercise per week. To fit in the training during my busy workweek, I mostly exercise first thing in the morning because later in the day, things pop up, emergencies happen. Q: Who inspires you? GB: My parents. They were immigrants into this country who came with nothing. They taught me that anything can be accomplished with hard work and persistence. Q: What impressive goals have you recently attained? GB: We earned the advanced certification with the Joint Commission, the only hospital in the area to achieve that certification, as well as the Blue Distinction Center of Excellence for Knee & Hip Replacement. To achieve these goals, we established a stringent set of criteria, including reducing our readmission rate, limiting our surgical-site infection rates, and increasing our discharge-tohome vs. discharge-to-rehab rates.