If you attended the PHUSE US Connect 2023 in Orlando, Florida, you would have been treated to an engaging, informative and moving keynote address orchestrated by the Orlando Health Foundation. How did this come to be, you ask? It all started with a vision of the US Connect Planning Committee to enable the PHUSE Community to make an impact on the local Orlando area, whilst we were in town.
Day 1 of the Connect welcomed keynote speaker Michael Schmidt, Assistant Vice President at Orlando Health Strategic Innovations. Following Michael’s keynote, we were taken on an experiential tour of the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children (part of the Orlando Health system) through stories of some of its patients. We also launched a campaign to support the mission of the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, in the hope to make an impact on the young patients it serves.
Michael Schmidt, Orlando Health Strategic Innovations
Michael Schmidt is Assistant Vice President at Orlando Health and is responsible for the Strategic Innovations programme, which leads efforts to inspire, cultivate and accelerate innovation and commercialisation across Orlando Health, a not-for-profit healthcare organisation that serves the southeast of the United States.
The Strategic Innovations programme brings to life ideas, concepts and inventions from team members and physicians that innovate delivery healthcare and the tools used to deliver that care, as well as strategically investing in external, early-stage companies and technologies that are transforming the healthcare industry.
During his presentation, Michael shared how he’s built a diverse programme to identify, refine and validate medical devices and innovative products. From software and apps to medical products and regulated medical devices, Orlando Health’s Strategic Innovations team is partnering with clinicians to develop a wide range of products from apps and software to medical devices and surgical tools. One example is a real-tie blood loss detection system that recognises bleeding which occurs under the drape during C-sections and alerts the care team to critical blood loss thresholds. Another example is an iOS app which breaks down communication barriers for impacted patients, enabling them to more easily express their most basic needs to their caretakers when speaking and writing are prohibitive.
For more information, please visit https://www.orlandohealth.com/strategicinnovations.
Orlando Health Tour
Following Michael’s introduction, we were joined by 12 individuals who took to the stage to share their personal experiences of Orlando Health. From a paediatric nurse who had been treated at the Hospital as a young child, to a boy who had a significant accident – unsure if he would even walk again and who the trauma team at Arnold Palmer worked in controlled chaos to keep alive – these heartfelt stories reminded our attendees of the valuable work we do within the healthcare industry and how working in clinical data science, developing tools to expedite the drug development process, ultimately gets patients the most effective treatments they need.
Fundraising Efforts
The Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children has provided compassionate care to the children, teenagers and young adults of Central Florida for more than 30 years. Led by dedicated doctors, specialists and caregivers, Orlando Health Arnold Palmer offers a wide range of advanced paediatric services in an environment built just for kids.
PHUSE are pleased to have raised vital funds for the Hospital, not only through generous US Connect attendee donations but on behalf of the Best in Stream Winners. Philanthropic support, large and small, powers every life-saving treatment, and breakthrough discovery.