Tampa General Hospital's John Couris Is Honored as a Great Leader in Healthcare

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Jun 17, 2024, 13:06 ET

The academic health system's president and CEO is recognized by Becker's Hospital Review for his leadership in health care innovation in Tampa Bay and beyond.

TAMPA, Fla., June 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital (TGH), has been recognized as a top health care leader in the U.S. by Becker's Hospital Review in its list of "Great Leaders in Healthcare" for 2024, which highlights leaders across the industry who are using innovative digital technology, novel care delivery approaches and creative care solutions to shape the future of health care. Couris is one of 84 leaders recognized across hospitals, health systems and other companies in the health care industry nationally. He is one of just four Florida health care leaders recognized and is the only leader representing the Tampa Bay region.

Tampa General Hospital President and CEO John Couris has been recognized as a top health care leader in the U.S. by Becker’s Hospital Review in its list of “Great Leaders in Healthcare” for 2024, which highlights leaders across the industry who are using innovative digital technology, novel care delivery approaches and creative care solutions to shape the future of health care.

This recognition marks Couris' third consecutive year that he is included on this list, which underscores his ability to lead and inspire Tampa General's dynamic team, including its world-class physicians, and his dedication to transforming health care delivery and increasing accessibility to innovative medical solutions across the Tampa Bay region, statewide and beyond.

Couris is recognized as a national expert in health care, organizational leadership, workplace culture transformation and management, operational excellence, team member and stakeholder engagement and strategic collaboration. He has led Tampa General's transformation to a true academic health system, including the enterprise's growth from 17 facilities to now six hospitals and more than 150 care locations statewide, employing approximately 14,000 team members and providers.

"I am tremendously proud of the transformation journey our collective Tampa General team has been on together over the last several years, which has positioned us well to serve not only as our region's only academic health system but as one of the nation's most innovative academic health systems," Couris said. "Our Board of Directors and team members are unwavering in their commitment to elevating patient care, pursuing innovative approaches and delivering exceptional outcomes. I am honored to work alongside a team with a common passion for pushing accepted boundaries and redefining world-class patient care."

Since joining Tampa General as president and CEO in 2017, Couris has championed innovation. With Couris at the helm, Tampa General established an artificial intelligence and predictive analytics care coordination center designed to improve the safety, quality and affordability of health care. Couris is forging strategic partnerships with leading artificial intelligence, predictive analytics and technology providers to streamline clinical workflows, automate administrative workflows and provide additional decision-making support to providers and front-line caregivers. Earlier this month, Tampa General announced the system will deploy Palantir's Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) to deliver a Care Coordination Operating System.

Today, Couris is leading the execution of Tampa General's largest master facility plan in the hospital's history, as well as driving the ongoing development of the Tampa Medical and Research District in downtown Tampa, which is already attracting renowned clinicians and researchers, improving access to experts, innovative medical research, education and technology for patients and students and, upon completion, is estimated to generate a total economic impact of $8.3 billion annually. The district skyline will soon include the TGH Behavioral Health Hospital, expected to open in 2025, which will offer highly specialized and personalized care for many behavioral and mental health conditions and became certified as the first of only four behavioral health teaching hospitals in Florida statute, in partnership with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. The academic health system also recently broke ground on the Taneja Surgical, Neuroscience & Transplant Tower, a 13-story medical pavilion in the heart of Tampa Bay, where patients will have access to best-in-class providers, the latest research therapies and state-of-the-art technologies.

To advance world-class care in Tampa Bay and across the industry, Couris collaborates closely with elected officials at the local, state and federal levels. In May, he was appointed to Florida's first-ever Health Care Innovation Council by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a statewide volunteer organization established this year to advance innovation in health care as part of the Senate's priority Live Healthy initiative. Couris played an instrumental role in the development and passage of the Live Healthy legislation and advocated both at the state and federal levels to advance and expand access to hospital at home programs, such as the academic health system's TGH at Home program.

Couris' focus on reimagining care coordination, forging strategic partnerships and driving innovation has resulted in significant improvements in the quality of care and patient outcomes at Tampa General, as well as the overall patient care experience, as shown by externally measured quality scores, safety ratings and Press Ganey survey results.

His leadership philosophy is built around the principles of a proprietary model he developed and has implemented across the system, AKTiVE, which focuses on leading with authenticity, kindness, transparency, vulnerability and empathy. Couris strongly believes in putting team members first by recognizing the whole person – including their lived experiences inside and outside of the workplace – and investing in the personal and professional development of each team member, regardless of their role or tenure. These efforts to build and foster a culture of belonging continue to drive high performance and better patient outcomes and have resulted in a consistent year-over-year increase in physician and team member engagement scores.

In addition to his strong leadership within the health care industry, Couris prioritizes actively serving the Tampa Bay community as a member of several boards and professional associations.

Collectively, these efforts have earned Tampa General continued national recognition as one of Newsweek's "World's Best Hospitals," Newsweek's "World's Best Smart Hospitals," Forbes' "America's Best-in-State Employers," Newsweek's "Best Cancer Hospitals," and Fortune/Merative "100 Top Hospitals," among others.

Becker's Hospital Review is a leading source of hospital business news and analysis for the health care industry. Couris and the rest of this year's "Great Leaders in Healthcare" honorees are profiled by Becker's Hospital Review here.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 981-bed, not-for-profit, academic health system, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News and World Report's 2023-24 Best Hospitals, with six specialties ranking among the top 50 best hospital programs in the United States. Tampa General Hospital has been designated as a model of excellence by the 2022 Fortune/Merative 100 Top Hospitals list. The academic health system's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious Forbes magazine rankings – in the top 100 nationally in the 2023 America's Best Employers for Women and top 25 in Florida in the 2023 America's Best Employers by State. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal year 2021, provided a net community benefit of approximately $240.3 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education, and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With six medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center, and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes TGH North which is comprised of three hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties, 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Outpatient Center, TGH Virtual Health, and 21 TGH Imaging outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is the first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that provides real-time situational awareness to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.