HealthCare Business News profiled Dr. Narendra Kini, the CEO of Nicklaus Children’s Health System, for this issue’s Hospital Spotlight.

HCB News: What inspired you to get involved in health care?
Narendra Kini: I’ve always been interested in the overall health and welfare of children. I was raised in Africa, and health care was a passion of mine since I was a child. Given the opportunity to train in health care, I jumped at it.

I obtained further training not only in clinical medicine, being a pediatrician and ER physician, but also went ahead and got a graduate degree in hospital and health administration. It’s been a very fulfilling life choice to date.

HCB News: Was there any experience or a person who inspired you to pursue this career?
NK: There were two major influences. One was my mother, who was a professor of biology. I developed an initial interest in health science watching my mother prepare for her lessons, going with her to her laboratory, looking at some anatomical specimens and things of that nature.
The second was a mentor who involved me much more in the care of children who were orphans. I think those two experiences really drove my desire to be involved in health care.

HCB News: How long have you been with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, which is part of the Nicklaus Children’s Health System?
NK: I’ve been CEO for nine years. I joined as CEO of the hospital, and as we evolved to a health system, I became CEO of the health system.

HCB News: How did the hospital hold up during Hurricane Irma?
NK: The hospital fared extremely well. We were able to maintain all our services through the storm, maintained adequate staffing and at no point in time were there any issues with patient care. But we’ve always drilled and prepared for this type of event.

Disaster drills in Florida are very common and mandated because we obviously face weather-related phenomena.

There’s a very robust system of response that’s built into our operation and we call it the Alpha-Bravo Response.

Basically, what happens is that the Alpha team comes into play where we secure the hospital, we ensure our supply chain is adequate for a period of up to 20 days, we have an in-house generator and adequate water supplies.

Also, the team to care for patients actually stays in the hospital for three to four days and we even allow their families to stay. That team mans the care for the first four days. Should there be a need for further care, the Alpha team is relieved by the Bravo team, which provides care for another three days.


We try to cover one week worth of operations using an emergency approach. This was a powerful storm and there were issues across the community.


We noticed simple things, like pharmacies and groceries were closed, so it was our role to be able to supply even prescriptions while local access was unavailable. We managed to do a lot of this work in close coordination with the state and local agencies.

HCB News: Were there any lessons picked up that will help for future preparedness?
NK: Yes, we learned some powerful lessons. It is very important to have communications with patients and physicians not only in-house, but if a patient is out of the hospital as well.

We were able to utilize an app to connect expecting mothers with their physicians. We were able to communicate with government officials even during the worst of the storm.

There was a lesson in the supply chain. While we had adequate water and food, there are always things like emergency medical supplies and high-risk medications that may need to be stocked up after the second or third day.

Through a partnership with HealthGrid, we were also able to present information from a classic EMR and present in a very easy digital manner via an app. The patient can take that home, exhibit it, absorb it and use it how they want. When there’s a disaster like we had, something like this is very welcome.

The second thing is an application that allows us to notify parents and caregivers about what’s going on with their child. We don’t have to pick up the phone. Instead, they can check their smartphone to get the latest information, which streamlines for everyone involved.

HCB News: What is your area of service?
NK: Our hospital extends primarily across five counties in southwest Florida, spanning an area of approximately 4 million people total. Most of our patients are from that area, although we do serve more than 30 states in the U.S. as well as patients from outside of the U.S.


HCB News: What challenges does your facility have at the regional and/or national levels?
NK: We are primarily a safety net hospital and two-thirds of our patients are covered by Medicaid. So we have a challenge with reimbursement.

Also, pediatric health care in Florida is extremely fragmented with many providers providing small types of pediatric services and adult systems attempting to provide pediatric care.

The third is really an issue of bringing a substantive number of providers to Miami and Florida and providing the highest level of care that’s available nationally. So it’s a matter of competing on that level. And we have the challenge of providing the highest level of care for populations who are from a lower tier economically and educationally.

HCB News: What sets you apart from other facilities of similar size?
NK: There are two distinct differences. One is our vision to be a partner in life to the child wherever they are. That means, between the ages of 0 and 19, we intend to be a partner both in wellness and sickness.

Our vision is to provide screening, prevention, treatment and monitoring services.

The second quality is that we believe we are one of the more technologically advanced health care systems in the nation. We have invested significantly in technology, whether it’s AI, virtual health care or services like HealthGrid. We’re working to become the next generation health care provider.