Sarasota County Public Hospital Board, at-large Seat 3: Pam Beitlich

Age: 66

Current occupation: Recently retired as SMH executive director of Women and Children’s Services.

Resident of Sarasota County: 43 years

Why are you running for election?

I am running for this role after working inside SMH for more than 40 years. I am very committed to the Sarasota community and the future of our local healthcare. The stakes are high with this election to ensure that SMH remains the healthcare gem that it is currently known for.

Have you ever run for public office before? If so, for what office?

I have never run for a public office before.

What experience and/or special skills do you have that make you a better candidate than your opponents?

I hold a doctorate in Healthcare Systems Leadership from Florida State University. I am an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and have a master’s degree in nursing. 

I understand the clinical side of running a healthcare system, as well as the day-to-day operations. As executive director of Women and Children’s Services, I oversaw our Level III high-risk labor and delivery and mother baby departments, with more than 4,500 births at SMH last year.

I was also responsible for our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the only one between St. Petersburg and Fort Myers, where the most critical babies are provided the highest level of care.

Additionally, I oversaw our Pediatric/Women’s department and a very robust community education and outreach program. Working in a busy hospital setting as SMH that is 24/7, 365 days a year, providing safe, high-quality healthcare doesn’t just happen by chance. Healthcare has never been more complex, and I have the expertise and knowledge to assist in navigating the strategic future for SMH.

What do you see as the top three or four priorities that the hospital board needs to address? And how should those priorities be addressed?

• Meeting the future healthcare needs of Sarasota County. As we build a hospital in North Port, we have engaged with that community for years in getting its input. We need to continue that process. 

Healthcare research and education will also be essential for our growth to attract the best healthcare providers. 

• Along with that growth, we must hire and keep the number of physicians and healthcare professionals that we need to provide quick access to care in Sarasota County. This is a national healthcare issue, one we have always focused on and need to continue with fresh recruitment and retention ideas. 

Keeping and fostering the strong SMH culture is critical to attract the best and brightest.

• Maintaining our CMS Five-Star designation, our five-time magnet designation, along with all of our other patient safety and quality awards. Working closely with our highly skilled physicians and nurses, I am confident we will keep a laser focus on the level of quality our community expects and deserves.
• Balancing all of our growth objectives to keep SMH financially strong and secure well into the future.

On a scale of A to F, with A being excellent, what grade would you give the performance of the current SMH executive team? Why, and what if anything should change in the way SMH leadership operates the SMH system?

I give our executive team an A. Based on the tremendous challenges we have faced, our leadership team is very strong. We ALWAYS put our patients first, and start and end with them in making any decisions. That has become a hallmark of our culture and is literally part of our DNA.

I am a firm believer in results, and all of our safety and quality outcomes reflect the day-to-day leadership throughout the entire system. 

Do we need to make improvements? Of course, and every single day, we consistently ask ourselves what we can do better.

The hospital’s property-tax millage rate has been 1.042 mills. In 2023, that generated $81.9 million in property-tax revenue, accounting for 58% of the hospital system’s surplus over its expenses. What is your position on the hospital’s millage rate — should it remain 1.042 mills; should it be reduced or increased? Why?

I do not support raising the millage rate. In light of the uninsured care that we provide to Sarasota County, we are the safety net for every patient, and the millage rate assists in allowing us to do that. 

A faction of Sarasota County citizens contends the hospital should be sold and privatized. What is your position on this and why?

I am unequivocally against selling and privatizing SMH.

Do you agree or disagree with the board’s decision as outlined below — why?

(Regarding COVID-19 vaccines, the hospital board recently rejected a motion from Board Member Victor Rohe to add on the SMH website, among other points, the following: “to fully inform the public of the lack of pre-authorization safety data, the evidence of probable risks of these injections and of [Florida Surgeon General] Dr. Joseph Ladapo’s recent call to immediately halt the use of these COVID-19 mRNA injections. … Further, all staff and employees should be instructed, when they interact with patients or other members of the community who make inquiries about the COVID-19 vaccine, to refer those patients or community members to the information available on the SMH website concerning the risks and lack of safety data, rather than simply referring those individuals to local pharmacies that continue to dispense these potentially dangerous injections.” 

Instead the board unanimously voted to support the following: “That the Board will continue to respect and honor every patient’s right to make [his/her] own health care decision within the patient-physician relationship, and using all resources available to them to inform the discussions surrounding those decisions … [T]he Board will continue to endeavor not to invade the physician-patient relationship or mandate treatment regimens for patients to its physicians.”)

I completely support the board’s decision not to post Dr. Ladapo’s recommendation. In the spirit of “medical freedom,” I support the physician-patient relationship as the bedrock of healthcare decisions.

The SMH board’s role does not include practicing medicine. The board’s job is to make certain our patients and families have access to the best physicians in the world.

The board also ensures that our physicians and all healthcare providers are provided with the best equipment and supplies to care for their patients. That is achieved by staying out of medical decisions and ensuring our physicians do not feel they are being second-guessed.