{"id":13614,"date":"2025-05-07T13:47:44","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smhf.org\/?p=13614"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:47:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:47:44","slug":"the-epicenter-of-the-hospital-how-smhs-logistics-team-is-redefining-patient-logistics-with-precision-and-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/the-epicenter-of-the-hospital-how-smhs-logistics-team-is-redefining-patient-logistics-with-precision-and-compassion\/","title":{"rendered":"The Epicenter of the Hospital: How SMH\u2019s Logistics Team Is Redefining Patient Logistics with Precision and Compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"

SPRING 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

Step inside the Meckler Logistics Center at Sarasota Memorial, and it\u2019s easy to see why visiting clinicians call it a \u201cmini-NASA.\u201d With screens aglow and real-time data constantly shifting, the space hums with purpose. This is where every patient movement\u2014into, through, and out of the hospital\u2014is orchestrated. At the helm is Susan Grimwood, DNP, APRN-C, Executive Director of Capacity, Logistics, and Patient Throughput. With clinical insight and systems savvy, she blends compassion with cutting-edge tech to keep SMH running smoothly.<\/p>\n

Grimwood began her journey at Sarasota Memorial in 2001. By 2016, she had moved into system-wide work, focusing on how to help patients transition quickly and safely from one level of care to another. \u201cWhen we started our capacity journey, I was promoted to director of logistics,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe realized we needed a more efficient way to move patients through the entire system and do it without compromising care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Grimwood\u2019s role spans the entire health system, including SMH\u2019s Sarasota and Venice campuses, two freestanding emergency departments and future expansions like the upcoming North Port hospital. \u201cWe manage all patient movement,\u201d she says. \u201cWhether someone is coming in through the ER, being transferred from another facility or heading home after surgery, logistics is involved every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

That involvement is anything but passive. Grimwood and her team rely on predictive analytics, machine learning and real-time data to coordinate patient flow across departments and locations. \u201cWe look at census, demand, discharges, delays\u2014every detail,\u201d she notes. \u201cThe technology helps us identify low-hanging fruit, those places where we can make small but meaningful changes that really speed things up for the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

The numbers tell the story. By streamlining patient movement, SMH has shaved nearly two hours off discharge times, greatly improved operating room start times and created the capacity equivalent of 77 inpatient beds per day. And that\u2019s without constructing a single new room. Grimwood likes to say that they\u2019re increasing capacity without brick and mortar, and that\u2019s the magic of logistics done right.<\/p>\n

But she\u2019s quick to point out that no algorithm alone can drive results. \u201cIt\u2019s people, process and culture,\u201d she says. That includes strong collaboration with nursing, case management and every department involved in patient care. \u201cOther hospitals might have the same software we do, but if you don\u2019t have the right culture of collaboration and the right team working together across departments, it won\u2019t make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

That difference has drawn attention far beyond Sarasota. Over the past year alone, more than 40 health systems from around the nation\u2014and one from abroad, the United Kingdom\u2019s National Health Service\u2014have come to see the SMH model in action. \u201cThey want to know how we\u2019re doing it,\u201d Grimwood says. \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to share what we\u2019ve built and show that it\u2019s replicable with the right people in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

That belief in culture extends to the very walls of the Meckler Logistics Center. Originally funded through a bequest from Herman and Lillian Meckler, the center has become a hub for innovation and impact. Philanthropy also helped launch SMH\u2019s departure lounge, an area where patients can wait for rides, receive discharge instructions and transition out of care in comfort and dignity. Thanks to support from Jonathan and Michelle Mitchell, the Mitchell Family Departure Lounge alone has freed up dozens of beds per day.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, the logistics team is preparing to move into a new 3,000-square-foot space to accommodate the system\u2019s growth. As SMH continues expanding services across the region, logistics will grow alongside it, quietly shaping each patient\u2019s experience, one smooth transition at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just moving patients,\u201d Grimwood says. \u201cWe\u2019re creating space for care to happen, and making sure it happens the right way, every time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SPRING 2025 Step inside the Meckler Logistics Center at Sarasota Memorial, and it\u2019s easy to see why visiting clinicians call it a \u201cmini-NASA.\u201d With screens aglow and real-time data constantly shifting, the space hums with purpose. This is where every patient movement\u2014into, through, and out of the hospital\u2014is orchestrated. At the helm is Susan Grimwood,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-impact-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13614"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13618,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13614\/revisions\/13618"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hub.coffee\/smhf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}