St. Petersburg, FL – (May 13, 2021) Orlando Health has announced it is opening its award-winning Diversity and Minority Business Development Program to businesses in the St. Petersburg area, following its acquisition of Bayfront Health St. Petersburg less than a year ago.

A new page to apprise vendors of upcoming business development opportunities with the hospital and its parent company, Orlando Health, can now be found on the Bayfront website.

“This program opens an important avenue to engage small and minority business owners who may not otherwise be well-positioned to compete against larger companies,” said Quibulah Graham, Corporate Director, Diversity & Minority Business Development. “In addition to providing avenues for new business, it’s also a remarkable opportunity for these vendors to grow in capacity. Even if prospective vendors don’t meet our criteria now, we provide comprehensive feedback on grants and certifications that can help them grow to meet the criteria and reapply in the future.”

In 2013, Orlando Health established the Diversity and Minority Business Development Department to provide an increased focus on supplier diversity and diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within the organization and across the Central Florida community. These efforts have now been extended to the Bay area. As part of the program, Orlando Health provides business development opportunities for diverse suppliers through mentoring, internal referrals, matchmaking, speaking engagements, networking and scholarships. The organization partners with team members and community organizations to support diverse and minority populations. Moreover, Orlando Health leads diversity, equity and inclusion education and training for its team members and members of the community.

In spite of an economic downturn in 2020, the program experienced remarkable growth:

• Vendor registrations increased 78 percent year over year
• Vendor mentoring increased 28 percent
• More than 52,000 attendees at 22 community outreach events focused on supplier diversity and nearly 17,000 attendees at community outreach events focused on diversity, equity and inclusion
• Over 5,200 participants attended expos, supplier matchmaker and minority business conference events

The program has also been widely recognized by business groups for its success working with small and minority-owned businesses:

• Orlando Business Journal’s 2019 Outstanding Diversity Champion
• 2019 Hispanic Community Champion of the Year by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando
• 2017 Doing Well While Doing Good Award from the Florida State Minority Supplier Diversity Council.

Business owners interested in establishing a vendor relationship with Bayfront Health St. Petersburg are encouraged to visit the website to learn more and connect directly with the department. 

About Bayfront Health St. Petersburg

The 480-bed Bayfront Health St. Petersburg was founded in 1910. It was acquired October 1, 2020 by Orlando Health, a not-for-profit healthcare organization with $7.1 billion of assets under management. The hospital’s areas of clinical excellence include heart and vascular, surgical services, rehabilitation services, neurosciences, maternity care and – as home to the only state-accredited Level Two Adult Trauma Center in Pinellas County – emergency services and trauma care.

Bayfront Health St. Petersburg is integral to the 3,200-bed Orlando Health system which serves the southeastern United States through 15 wholly-owned hospitals and emergency departments; rehabilitation services, cancer and heart institutes, imaging and laboratory services, wound care centers, physician offices for adults and pediatrics, skilled nursing facilities, an in-patient behavioral health facility, home healthcare services in partnership with LHC Group, and urgent care centers in partnership with CareSpot Urgent Care. Nearly 4,200 physicians, representing more than 80 medical specialties and subspecialties have privileges across the system, which employs nearly 22,000 team members.

As a statutory teaching healthcare organization, Orlando Health hosts more than 325 residents and fellows including more than 40 who are enrolled at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg’s OB/GYN, Family Medicine, Sports Medicine and Pharmacy programs.

In FY20, Orlando Health served nearly 150,000 inpatients and nearly 3.1 million outpatients. During that same time period, the organization provided approximately $760 million in total value to the communities it serves in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more. Additional information can be found at https://www.bayfrontstpete.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.