“We already know that COVID has changed our industry, being able to meet that challenge will require discipline, and forward-thinking leadership.””

Dakota Redd, R.N., HRMC Chief Nursing Officer

CLEWISTON -- Imagine being offered a hard-earned promotion in the healthcare field during one of the worst pandemics in recent history.

That’s what happened when Dakota Redd, R.N., was promoted to Chief Nursing Officer of Hendry Regional Medical Center (HRMC) in June.

With more than 35 years of diverse clinical healthcare experience in emergency medicine, nursing leadership and cardiovascular nursing, Redd was the natural choice for the position having previously served HRMC as Emergency Department Director, Patient Safety Officer and Administrative Nursing Supervisor.

First and foremost, Redd wants the community to know his team is committed to providing the best health care it can.

“We are listening to them and will continue to listen and always strive to be better,” he said.

Prior to his career at HRMC, Redd served at a critical access hospital in Potosi, Mo., as Director of In-Patient Services and Emergency Department.

While working full time, he earned his Associates Degree in Nursing in 1991 and his Bachelor of Science degree in nursing in 2009 from Maryland University.

All that responsibility and training has prepared Redd for overseeing and protecting the 125 staff he manages during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its newest variant delta.

“We currently are quite focused on the challenges of the pandemic,” he said. “What our new normal will be is still a bit up for conjecture but it will be quite different than prior to January of 2020.”

With the hospital seeing an increase of delta variant cases, Redd explores ways to protect staff while caring for the influx of new patients while seeking solutions to an end of the pandemic, as many do.

“Challenges considering these facts are many, as are the questions. How do you convince folks that vaccinations may be the only way back to some normalcy, or that there will be a second pandemic, affecting the unvaccinated and finally how do I protect our staff.”

Redd’s early efforts in his new position includes improving overall morale at the hospital.

“The pandemic has been hard on everyone, and so acknowledging and recognizing our heroes has been very important, as is not losing sight on what we have done very well as an organization," he explained.

Redd has a three-pronged approach for patient service and improved employee experience.

“Our relationship with community is very personal, so then should be the experience."

Identifying and improving what is already being done well is also a priority.

“We already know that COVID has changed our industry, being able to meet that challenge will require discipline, and forward-thinking leadership.”

Recognizing communication is key to continued success of the organization, he said, adding he plans to improve the lines of communication both internally and externally to patients.

Redd was born Chicago, moving to California where he lived until the fourth grade before relocating to St. Louis. He spent most of his career in the Midwest.

He worked as the Emergency Room director in Clewiston before returning north in 2018 to care for a sick family member.

“I had always wanted to return to Florida and this hospital as I had developed some very strong relationships with this team.”

He credits serendipity for his medical career, which began as a teen hired as a retirement center transporter and saw opportunity in the world of medicine. At first his desire was monetary. He noticed if he invested his time in training to become an orderly, he could earn more money. But soon he met a resident who had suffered a catastrophic stroke, revealing to Redd his true passion caring for those who could not care for themselves.

When he finds time from his busy schedule, he enjoys reading, working out and living a healthy lifestyle.

A believer in Quint Studer -- a Pensacola businessman, philanthropist and founder of the Studer Group, a health care consulting company – Redd encourages staff to realize healthcare is a calling and connecting staff to purpose is one of the key Studer principles is a high priority.