Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast—like much of the United States—are now facing a healthcare shortage. And, despite the population growth and medical needs, they struggle to serve their people. These include the dearth of hospitals, a lack of hospital capacity, and a specter of nurses to fill them. The county and cities need better and larger hospitals to solve these problems. Refurbishing and modernizing existing healthcare systems is essential to accommodate an increasing medical need and to ensure that residents receive timely and quality care. Larger, more advanced hospitals would help with congestion, wait times, and patient care. In the absence of this investment, these communities will not have healthy populations.
The scope of the problem.
With more people in Palm Beach County, there is more demand for medical services. Nevertheless, there are not enough hospitals and their capacity to cater to this increasing demand is limited. Patients are constantly waiting in lines for basic care and emergency rooms fill up with cases. The nursing shortage worsens the situation and leads to overwork, burnout, and demoralization in health care workers.
In fact, national statistics suggest the scope of the problem. In the United States alone, 450,000 nurses will be out of work by 2025, mainly due to burnout and conditions. Palm Beach County, a county of retirees and older people, is particularly susceptible to this phenomenon.
Recommendations for improvement
In order to meet these needs, Palm Beach County will have to implement a multi-pronged strategy that includes infrastructure investment, workforce investment, and structural change. Here are several recommendations:
1.Build New Hospitals
Healthcare infrastructure will continue to grow to meet the county’s demands. New hospitals in underserved locations would not only relieve strain on existing facilities but also provide better care to residents in rural or rapidly expanding areas. Such hospitals should be able to be scalable in the future in line with population needs.
2. Increase Hospital Capacity
Pre-existing hospitals will need to prioritize expanding their capacity to accommodate higher patient volumes. This means adding more beds, upgrading equipment, and building new units for specialized care. But these expansions must be aligned with workforce planning so that extra capacity is underwritten by the right amount of staff
3. Spend money on nurse staffing and retention
This nurse shortage must be addressed with focused interventions to retrain and maintain talented individuals. Competitive pay, forgiveness of loans, and flexible hours can attract new nurses into the profession. In addition, with better working conditions, less burden, and safe patient-to-nurse ratios, nursing will become a more viable profession.
4.Foster Local Talent
Work with your local colleges and universities to increase your nursing degrees to provide an ongoing pipeline of health workers. Scholarships, internships, and residency courses can encourage students to stay in nursing after graduation.
5. Enhance Community Health Initiatives
The construction of new hospitals and the capacity increase are all important but so is preventative medicine. Strengthening community health interventions such as primary care, disease prevention, and health education will not only free up hospitals but also boost the public health score.
6. Advocate for Policy Change
State and federal policies shape the health system. Palm Beach County should press for safe nurse-to-patient ratios, higher Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, and investments in healthcare infrastructure and employment.
The Cost of Inaction
Palm Beach County will face dire consequences if these issues remain unresolved. Patients will have diminished access to care, health care will suffer and the burden on current staff will become unsustainable. If we invest in solutions now, we will have an improved quality of life for residents and lower long-term medical costs by stopping crises before they happen.
Conclusion
The healthcare issues facing Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast are critical. Hospital shortages, lagging capacity, and the lack of nurses make for a system that is unsustainable and undermines patient and public health. Better and bigger hospitals are the key to servicing the increasingly sophisticated needs of these regions. Moreover, we need to fill nurse gaps with better recruiting, retention, and working conditions. By making these adjustments the most important, both counties will be able to develop a comprehensive health care system to deliver quality care to residents. Now is the moment.
References:
Bourgault, A. M. (2022). The nursing shortage and work expectations are in critical condition: Is anyone listening? Critical Care Nurse, 42(2), 8–11. https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2022909
Cho, D. D., Bretthauer, K. M., & Schoenfelder, J. (2023). Patient-to-nurse ratios: Balancing quality, nurse turnover, and cost. Health Care Management Science, 26(4), 807–826. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10729-023-09659-y
https://www.wptv.com/news/health/can-treasure-coasts-health-care-system-handle-influx-of-people.
https://indianrivermagazine.com/life-savers/
Written by:
Juram Gorriceta MPA, BSN RN, CHPM, Yellow Belt Certified.
Healthcarebeyond 
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