St. Joseph's Hospital - North

10/19/2026

Spiritual Care Week is October 18 to 24 and we thank our chaplains, pastoral care team members and volunteers devoted to helping patients and their loved ones navigate a hospital stay with spiritual and emotional support. They play a major role in the healing process of our patients and their loved ones. Our pastoral care team is present throughout the St. Joseph's Hospitals to serve your needs. They work with all religions and will assist you in contacting your place of worship. Pictured are chaplains Fr. Saji (far left) and Kelvin (far right) in our hospital chapel.

Read more about spiritual care at our hospital: https://bit.ly/3VKu9G0

10/17/2026

A breast cancer diagnosis can feel overwhelming — and knowing how to help someone you love isn’t always easy. As Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, BayCare shares six ways to support patients with breast cancer.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4xTw37G

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month and beyond, breast cancer patients often need presence, understanding and practical support more than perfect words. BayCare experts share six meaningful ways to help someone navigate diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

10/14/2026

A new era in cancer care has arrived.

The BayCare Proton Center on the campus of St. Joseph’s Hospital is now open and accepting adult and pediatric patients, expanding access to advanced radiation treatment closer to home in West Central Florida. It also includes an upright patient positioning chair, only the second in the world to use this technology. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4zxI7Nk

BayCare Cancer Institute's proton therapy center on the campus of St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa is now open and accepting patients, bringing one of the most advanced forms of radiation treatment closer to home for adults and children.

10/13/2026

For the 10th consecutive year, BayCare has been recognized as one of the Best Workplaces in Health Care™ by Fortune magazine and Great Place To Work. We’re proud to be nationally recognized for our incredible team culture and our commitment to providing exceptional care! Read more: https://bit.ly/4hVmmQ5

BayCare has been recognized as one of the nation's Best Workplaces in Health Care for the 10th consecutive year. Learn how a culture that supports team members helps drive exceptional care for patients and communities across West Central Florida.

10/11/2026

Hospital Care Coordination Week, October 11 to 17, honors the contributions and of our care coordination team of registered nurses (RNs) and social services specialists. These team members work with patients, patients’ families, caregivers, doctors, nurses, other medical staff and the community to synchronize all the moving parts in caring for our patients.

While patients are in the hospital, these team members make sure we are following the important protocols so that patients receive the best care for their conditions and illnesses. Care coordination also creates discharge plans to help patients get further help, care and rehabilitation after leaving the hospital. They can connect patients with community resources and assistance that is available.

Care coordination is also involved with assisting with insurance and coverage benefits for our patients. These team members guide and advocate for our patients. Thank you for all you do on patients’ behalf.

The photos, taken in our beautiful courtyard, include Lily, our in-house facility pet therapy dog with our care coordination RNs and social services specialists. Lily turned 3 on May 1! Lily, a female golden retriever, is a full time in-house team member at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North similar to facility dogs at schools, senior living and memory care facilities, other hospitals and many other community settings. Lily has several team members trained as her handlers who take her throughout our hospital to provide pet therapy to patients, visitors, team members and medical staff. Lily goes home at night with Crystal, our care coordination nurse manager.

10/09/2026

Congratulations to Jessica, Advanced Practice Provider (APP) of the Quarter at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North (SJHN)! APPs have advanced clinical training and education. APPs have a unique role in health care and many are able to perform the same duties as physicians including prescribing medications and ordering diagnostic tests. APPs work and collaborate with their physician colleagues in managing and patients’ health conditions in both chronic and acute care. APPs’ time with patients often focuses on education and disease prevention. APPs help fill critical gaps in health care.

The APP award is a program of our Professional Practice Council. The Council includes nurses collaborating on hospital issues, policy and procedure and hospital improvement. Any team member can nominate an APP for the quarterly honor. Jessica’s award is for the 2026 third quarter encompassing July, August and September.

Jessica is an APRN (advanced practice registered nurse) working on an inpatient unit and specializing in the care of general surgery and urology patients.

Jessica goes above and beyond for patients and a strong advocate for them, ensuring their voices are heard. She truly understands patients’ needs and concerns. She approaches every situation with professionalism, accountability and a genuine commitment to doing what is best for patients. Her APP nomination documents illustrate this with an example.

A special needs patient, who was hospitalized with us for more than a month, was awaiting placement in a behavior-focused group home. Jessica devised a personalized behavior modification plan tailored to the patient’s specific needs. The plan resulted in the patient becoming calmer and ultimately being placed successfully. Jessica built a meaningful bond with the patient using exceptional compassion.

Jessica is outstanding at communicating with patients, their families and the health care team, creating a collaborative environment focused on providing the best possible care. She has excellent clinical judgment and recognizes when concerns should be escalated and appropriate team members need to be involved to ensure quality outcomes.

Jessica brings positivity and kindness in everything she does. She is approachable, supportive, a relationship builder and fosters teamwork in the work environment.

Thank you Jessica for your leadership and the example you set at our hospital as an APP! A well-deserved APP of the Quarter award!

10/07/2026

At BayCare, we recognize the value of diverse abilities in shaping the future of health care. Thank you to our incredible teams for making a difference every day.

10/06/2026

It's Health Care Foodservice Week (October 4 -10)! We recognize and appreciate our foodservice, nutrition, dietary and culinary team members for providing and serving high-quality, nutritious, delicious and healthy meals leading to healing and comfort for patients, their families, visitors and team members. Thank you for creating a nourishing environment in our hospital and playing a role in the well-being of all.

The gallery includes some of our foodservice and nutrition team members in the workplace.

10/04/2026

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.

Here are some important messages from Dr. Diane Durgan, pictured here, a BayCare Medical Group breast surgeon affiliated with our hospital:

"Women of every age should know their risk for breast cancer. If you don't know your risk for breast cancer, you should ask your doctor to calculate it for you. This will let us know how we're supposed to watch you and screen you for breast cancer."

"Every woman over 40 should at least, at the minimum, be getting a mammogram every year. Every woman should also be doing monthly breast self-exams. This is also important for younger women. If you see something abnormal, let your doctor know. Let us know so you can see a specialist."

For more breast health information or to schedule a mammogram screening, visit https://bit.ly/46rFJMi. Patients can book a screening mammogram in our Elaine Shimberg Breast Center as soon as the next day.

Dr. Durgan's profile on the BayCare website: https://baycare.org/doctors/diane-durgan-1134515554

10/03/2026

"You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild to pick up a book and read to a child." – Dr. Seuss

We did just that in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Books With Babies Read-a-thon as we joined hospitals from across the nation in a reading to infants event. The goal of the 11-day NICU Read-a-thon from September 14 to 24 was to celebrate and encourage reading at the bedside. Reading to little ones in the NICU not only brings comfort but also builds early connections and supports infant brain development and can help with developing language, listening and memory skills. Reading to infants in the NICU also can reduce stress levels associated with intensive care hospitalization for both baby and family. The photo gallery includes BayCare and St. Joseph's Hospital-North leadership reading to NICU babies.

Of course, we're also encouraging families to read to their babies after bringing them home! We gave families books to take home upon their babies being discharged.

Learn more about our new NICU, it opened a little over one year ago on July 15, 2025: https://bit.ly/4e0dZCp

Read more about the Read-a-thon in the BayCare Newsroom: bit.ly/46Tgr9l