PALM COAST, Fla. — Community leaders, healthcare professionals, donors, and residents gathered as AdventHealth Palm Coast hosted its annual State of the Hospital event, offering an inside look at the organization’s recent accomplishments, future goals, and continued investment in healthcare across Flagler and St. Johns counties.
The event showcased advancements at both AdventHealth Palm Coast and AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway, while emphasizing the hospital system’s commitment to expanding services, improving patient outcomes, supporting nursing excellence, and ensuring residents can access exceptional healthcare close to home.
Ellie Lenkevich, newly appointed Foundation Chair, reflected on the importance of giving back to both the hospital and the community.
“It’s important for us to give back,” Lenkevich said. “It’s not only for the hospital, but it’s for the community to improve the care we provide.”
Denyse Bales-Chubb, president and CEO for AdventHealth Palm Coast and CEO for the St. Johns and Flagler markets, said the annual gathering serves as an opportunity to share how AdventHealth continues investing in local healthcare services and expanding access to advanced care.
“This day is really important because it gives us an opportunity to share back with the community all the great work AdventHealth is doing to invest in the community,” Bales-Chubb said. “We want to make sure people have all the healthcare they need right here, so they don’t have to leave the market to receive care.”
Bales-Chubb also emphasized the personal importance of delivering high-quality healthcare locally.
“My husband and I live here,” she said. “I would not want to be providing healthcare that was not what I expected for myself and my family for our community. It’s always going to be about the best quality and the best experience.”
Throughout the presentation, hospital leadership highlighted a growing list of recognitions and achievements earned by both campuses.
Wally De Aquino, president and CEO of AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway, celebrated major milestones for the newer Parkway campus, including national recognition for patient safety and quality outcomes.
“Leapfrog recognized Parkway as one of the top hospitals even before we had a grade,” De Aquino said. “Now, in 2026, we are very happy to announce that we started receiving grades from them and we started with an ‘A.’”
De Aquino also shared that AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway received a four-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) during its first evaluation cycle.
“We already opened the hospital operating like a four-star hospital,” he said. “We’re very proud to be able to do this for our community.”
Meanwhile, AdventHealth Palm Coast earned back-to-back Premier Top 100 Hospital recognitions and maintained a prestigious five-star CMS rating, underscoring the system’s continued excellence in patient care.
The presentation also highlighted AdventHealth’s growing partnerships within the community, including support for student-athletes and healthcare initiatives with Flagler Schools.
“We’re getting ready to support the free school physicals,” De Aquino said. “Last year there were about 800 students that came through in two days. We also employ the athletic trainers supporting both high schools, helping focus on the health of their athletes.”
Chief Nursing Officer Kristen Sutton spoke passionately about AdventHealth’s ongoing “Pathway to Excellence” journey and the hospital’s efforts to strengthen nursing support and retention.
Sutton shared a story about nurses facing financial barriers when pursuing national board certification exams — costs that can exceed several hundred dollars upfront.
“In partnership with our foundation, we are able to have nurses apply to have those funds up front,” Sutton explained. “They’re able to pay for the exam and get their board certification.”
The initiative has already shown measurable success. Sutton reported that certified nurses across both hospitals increased by 157 percent between January 2024 and March 2026, with 72 nationally certified registered nurses now serving patients locally.
“We’re on a journey of achieving Pathway to Excellence designation,” Sutton said. “What this means is higher quality and higher safety for our community. When our nurses feel cared for, our patients benefit and our community benefits.”
The State of the Hospital event also introduced attendees to physicians and expanding specialty services now available locally, including women’s health, orthopedic trauma care, oncology, and hospital medicine.
Leadership noted that the continued expansion of advanced services allows residents to receive specialized treatment without traveling outside the county — a goal that remains central to AdventHealth’s mission in the region.
As the event concluded, Lenkevich emphasized the important role donor support and community partnerships continue to play in enhancing care, funding equipment, and investing in continuing education for healthcare professionals.
“So much of this comes back to us as patients,” Lenkevich said. “That’s what this support is for.”
