Since the start of the new year, AdventHealth’s presence has continued to expand in Apopka. Most recently, AdventHealth acquired a distribution center in Apopka for $84 million, and this month the City Commission approved the renewal of a five-year sponsorship agreement with the hospital. 

Key to this effort is Brad Hillmon, who stepped into the role of CEO at AdventHealth Apopka last September. This week, Hillmon met with The Apopka Chief to discuss his tenure so far and his vision for the hospital’s future. 

“No one would have ever been able to convince me to believe that I would one day have the opportunity to lead at this capacity here,” said Hillmon, who grew up and now raises his family in Apopka. “It’s just been such an honor to stay in my community.”

Hillmon’s predecessor, Parker Pridgen, resigned last year after deciding to move to California with his family. He called Pridgen a “good leader,” citing his growth of the cardiology program and opening of the infusion center as among Pridgen’s most consequential accomplishments. 

“This was not a situation where I had to come in and turn around the hospital,” Hillmon said. “It was like, how do you come in and accelerate the things that have happened and accelerate the development of services? The community’s growing so fast — we have tokeep up with the community and the people that are living here.” 

As part of his effort to “keep up with the community,” Hillmon is focusing on “expanding services,” particularly by reintroducing vascular care to the AdventHealth Apopka campus and “building out more robust cancer care.” He is also looking forward to serving residents of northern Apopka through an upcoming ER facility at Wyld Oaks. 

“There’s a lot of homes going up in the Kelly Park/Wyld Oaks area,” Hillmon said. “Our partnership with Wyld Oaks is well-known, and we’re excited to partner with them and help to make sure that as that community grows, there’s health care for people to receive locally.” 

Hillmon also announced plans to launch an intensive cardiac rehabilitation (ICR) program on Monday at the AdventHealth Apopka campus. 

“When someone has a cardiac event, it’s an intense medical intervention,” Hillmon said. “There’s surgery, there’s all kinds of things involved. It’s also a long road back to normal living, and we know that people have a much higher chance of getting back to normal living more quickly if they have the ability to get follow-up care frequently.” 

The ICR program will see patients several days a week, providing personalized care plans, a gym, direct contact with clinicians, and nutrition education. 

“If you have to drive downtown for that several days a week, that can be really difficult,” Hillmon said. “People’s chances of participatingin that process go way down, because it’s just hard. Now, when that is in your local community hospital, and you can drive a few miles to get intensive cardiac rehab, you have a much higher chance of being compliant with your care plan.” 

Hillmon is also looking forward to bringing more proactive healthcare opportunities, both on the AdventHealth Apopka campus and beyond. Crucial to that effort is the recently approved five-year, $703,650 sponsorship agreement between the city of Apopka and the hospital. 

“It is part of our mission that we participate in not only helping to heal people when they’re sick, but that we are part of their lives when they’re doing well,” Hillmon said. “You can see in that agreement, there’s a lot of opportunity for us to collaborate in education and collaborate in healthy cooking classes and how to manage diabetes and how to manage complex chronic conditions. We’ve made sure that in the agreement we have a responsibility to actually have physicians come and talk to people about their conditions.” 

As a result of the agreement, AdventHealth Apopka funded the construction of an outdoor workout area at the Northwest Recreation Complex, will participate in various annual Apopka holiday events, and will appear in youth sports opening day ceremonies. 

“We have to make health care less intimidating as a society,” Hillmon said. “By us being involved in the community, I hope that it makes the health care process a little less intimidating, and folks will engage a little bit more in preventing sickness and in taking care of their bodies.” 

On a more personal level, Hillmon credits his involvement in the Foliage Sertoma Club of Apopka for his ability to understand the community’s desires and needs across various career fields and causes. The club meets regularly at the Back Room Steakhouse to plan various events and charitable endeavors. 

“Throughout the community, there’s people that are involved in education — there’s people that are involved in conservation efforts, there’s people that are involved in local government,” Hillmon said. “[Sertoma’s] a bit of an informal setting where you can come and kind of enjoy people’s company, but then talk about and participate in activities that help grow community.” 

Ultimately, Hillmon hopes that, during his tenure as CEO, AdventHealth Apopka will build a reputation of delivering compassionate, accessible health care. 

“Whoever walks through our doors — you don’t know their history, you don’t know their past, you don’t know what they’ve been through, you don’t know what they’re going through,” Hillmon said. “But what I do know is this could be the one chance in their life where they have an opportunity to be treated like a child of God, and I don’t want to miss the opportunity to treat someone that way and to make someone feel valued and loved and cared for. We aren’t perfect, but we sure try to get it right most of the time.”