Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: Dr. Peggy Duggan, Executive Vice President, Chief Physician Executive, and Chief Medical Officer, Tampa General Hospital

Release Date: January 10, 2026
Guest: Dr. Peggy Duggan
Host: Laura Deardo

Episode Overview

This episode features Dr. Peggy Duggan, a leading voice in healthcare leadership, discussing Tampa General Hospital’s rapid growth, key quality initiatives, challenges facing health systems, and the transformational strategies propelling patient care and operational excellence.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background and Tampa General’s Expanding Footprint

[01:07–03:01]

• Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is a large academic health system in central Florida comprising six hospitals—three of which are newly integrated community hospitals and two rural facilities.
• Scope of TGH includes 150+ ambulatory sites (urgent care, specialty clinics, imaging, etc.), delivering broad-spectrum, community-focused care.
• Dr. Duggan joined TGH five years ago, previously serving as an academic breast surgeon and leader at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
• She describes her role as “fun” and highlights the system’s reputation for innovation.

“We are really working both in the large academic medical space, but also providing care to the rural citizens of the state of Florida… We get a lot of things done here, and... we are innovative and on the cutting edge of a lot of activity.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [02:32]

2. Critical Care Redesign: A Transformational Initiative

[03:15–06:18]

• Dr. Duggan’s most impactful recent initiative: a two-year, system-wide redesign of critical care.
  • Standardized care protocols and staffing models across all critical care units.
  • Enhanced team composition with more MDs and advanced practice providers (APPs).
• Results:
  • Halved central line and urinary tract infection rates.
  • Achieved 9th percentile ICU mortality in a national Vizient academic cohort (among major centers like Mass General, Vanderbilt, Stanford).
  • Improved overall system performance, moving into the 24th percentile among academic health systems nationally.

“We’ve had a significant drop in central line infections—about half of what we had in FY26… Most compelling for us is our mortality. Our ICUs… are in the 9th percentile in the large academic medical group in Vizient.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [04:39]

3. Empowering Teams and Building Infrastructure for Quality

[06:55–08:42]

• Focus on resourcing frontline teams and building “infrastructure” that directly impacts patient outcomes.
• Example: Launch of a dedicated peripheral IV team—resulting in reduced infection rates and freeing up bedside nurses for direct patient care.
• Emphasis on inculcating data-driven culture: continual analysis of performance data to remove barriers and empower care teams.

“Sometimes it’s simple things… When you build the infrastructure and then you let the teams really go after the work, that’s a huge benefit… Our job as leaders is to identify barriers and tick them off.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [07:38]

4. 2026 Strategic Priorities: Hospital at Home & Ambulatory First

[08:51–12:14]

• Hospital at Home:
  • One of the largest programs nationally; delivers inpatient-level care at patients’ homes.
  • Patients experience lower readmission rates due to better insight into home environments and care needs.
• Ambulatory First Initiative:
  • “Think Ambulatory First” project ensures patients are managed in outpatient/ambulatory settings when possible.
  • Built in partnership with providers to ensure reliable follow-up and proper transitions.
  • Expands capacity for complex patients in academic center beds.

“We have a group of patients who are inpatient level of care but are cared for in their home… That population has the lowest readmission rate in our system because of that ability to see outside the hospital walls.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [09:36]

“We call it ‘Think Ambulatory First’… We created that for [providers] and it’s really taken a lot of patients who would be admitted out of the hospital and allowed those beds to be available for sicker and more complex patients.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [11:19]

5. Biggest Headwind: Navigating Uncertainty

[12:14–14:03]

• Greatest challenge for 2026 is industry-wide uncertainty, especially regarding payer policies and reimbursement shifts.
• Fiscal responsibility and cost management are top-of-mind, tightly coupled with initiatives to maintain quality care.
• Core principle: High-quality care usually aligns with economic efficiency.

“Our biggest headwind is uncertainty… Being focused on fiscal responsibility this year is going to be very important as we lean into the coming years.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [12:33]

6. Aligning Leadership and Teams Amid Change

[14:41–16:52]

• Deliberate alignment between the Chief Physician Executive (Dr. Duggan) and Chief Financial Officer (Mark Runyon) is key for successful operational initiatives.
• Joint sponsorship of projects ensures clarity and unity from leadership, building genuine team buy-in.
• Strong communication: tying together care quality, efficiency, and financial stewardship.

“He and I work together on how we bring initiatives forward and how they’re talked about. We co-sponsor a lot so that… people see us at the table together… Nothing gets done if the team doesn’t get behind it.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [15:16]

“We have to have a margin in order to be successful with quality. It doesn’t work any other way.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [16:46]

7. Hardest Challenge for the Coming Year: True Care Coordination

[17:15–19:01]

• An ongoing challenge is integrating care coordination across different specialties and settings to match the patient journey rather than internal silos.
• New initiative: Cross-disciplinary leadership (Chief Transformation Officer, ambulatory and CMO leads) to unify coordination efforts with patient-centricity.

“We need to align coordination with the patient journey. That’s not going to be an easy thing to do. I think it’s a required thing to do.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [17:46]

8. Role of Technology & AI in Transformation

[19:14–20:21]

• Technology, especially interoperable tools and AI, is pivotal in bridging silos and bolstering care coordination.
• AI is leveraged to automate menial tasks, synthesize data, and support care teams, enhancing both inpatient and ambulatory efficiency.

“How do we use tools like AI to support [care coordination] so that we can take what we have and amplify it across more patients as well?”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [19:42]

9. Growth Opportunities: Expanding Care Models and Efficiency Initiatives

[20:21–22:35]

• Further expansion of “hospital at home” models at multiple sites.
• Prioritizing ambulatory care and development of ambulatory surgery centers.
• Large January launch: Inpatient efficiency initiative, co-sponsored by finance and clinical leadership.
• Continued, robust deployment of AI to streamline workflows and let teams focus more deeply on patient care.

“Creating inpatient beds without building a building—that is really impactful… When we more effectively and efficiently get the care the patient needs to them, they naturally leave the facility earlier and sooner and get back to their families.”
— Dr. Peggy Duggan [20:47]

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On culture: “At Tampa General, one of the things I’ve been most impressed with… People really get after the work we want to achieve.” [16:17]
• On leadership philosophy: “Efficiency is quality… Inefficient care is not high-quality care.” [14:54]
• On technology: “The care teams know what they’re trying to get to the patient… But how do we communicate across and not duplicate efforts… How do we use tools like AI to support that?” [19:22]

Key Timestamps

• [01:07] Dr. Duggan’s background & TGH’s system scope
• [03:15] Critical care redesign details & outcomes
• [06:55] Empowering teams, focus on infrastructure
• [08:51] 2026 priorities—Hospital at Home, Think Ambulatory First
• [12:14] Headwinds: Industry uncertainty and payer relations
• [14:41] Aligning executive leadership and fiscal/clinical teams
• [17:15] Challenge of cross-disciplinary care coordination
• [19:14] Technology and AI’s roles in transformation
• [20:21] Organizational growth opportunities
• [22:35] Episode conclusion

Summary

Dr. Peggy Duggan shares a blueprint for transformative hospital leadership—balancing operational efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and clinical excellence. With major initiatives in critical care, hospital-at-home programs, ambulatory care, and AI-driven processes, Tampa General Hospital exemplifies an academic medical system charting the future of patient-centered innovation, even as it navigates financial and policy headwinds. Dr. Duggan’s collaborative approach, particularly in uniting clinical and financial leadership around quality and efficiency, underpins TGH’s ongoing success and readiness for healthcare’s next evolution.