Health tech company opens expansive new office

A tech-centric, Tampa-based company focused on mitigating the ongoing nursing shortage has opened an innovative new campus and headquarters.

Gale Healthcare Solutions, the nation’s first to offer “on-demand” technology-enabled nursing staffing solutions, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the facility Tuesday. Company officials hope the campus, located next to St. Joseph’s Hospital at 3101 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Tampa, will propel efforts to revolutionize the nursing industry.

The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences reports that the nation will need 1.2 million new registered nurses by 2030. Tony Braswell, Gale’s president and founder, told attendees the people operating inside the campus would help address the issue.

“That’s what this office is about,” added Braswell. “Getting back together because the mission is too important. This dedication is not for me – I’m just grateful to be a part of it. It’s for every nurse and every patient needing care today.”

The building encompasses 39,000 square feet, making it nearly five times larger than the company’s previous facility. Company officials chose the site for its centralized location, amenities and proximity to the airport.

The dramatic increase in office space mirrors the company’s exponential growth. What began in 2016 with a small team managing a few dozen nurses around Tampa Bay has grown to include 500 employees overseeing technology, operations and business development for a national company.

Over 50,000 nurses now utilize Gale’s mobile application to find and accept shifts at healthcare facilities in seconds. According to its website, more than 55,000 clinicians and thousands of healthcare providers in 40 states turn to the platform for staffing solutions.

In the past year, Braswell closed a $60 million investment, tapped a Google veteran as its chief technology officer, doubled its clinical workforce and expanded services to include travel nurses and permanent placings. The company also began licensing its software to other healthcare firms.

“In my wildest imagination, I never thought we’d be doing something like this,” said Braswell. “But it’s because of what everyone here is doing every day and what all the people who are not here are doing every day.”

Tony Braswell (center, with scissors), founder and president of Gale, with local officials, nurses and team members.

He expressed that Gale is a mission rather than a company, which is why he named it after the founder of modern nursing – Florence Nightingale. He told attendees the nursing shortage affects his and their families and that one day, it will affect them personally.

Nurses are heroes, Braswell said, and his team should keep that in mind as they go about their daily operations. In addition to mitigating staffing challenges and onboarding delays, Gale’s technology allows users to receive their pay as fast as 1.42 seconds after clocking out for the day.

“Yeah, we need to make money,” he said. “We’re supposed to make money, and that’s okay. But what we’re trying to do is create an environment where no nurse works shorthanded.”

In August, Inc. magazine ranked Gale among the top 20% of America’s fastest-growing private companies, at 931. Ernst & Young LLP named Braswell the state’s Entrepreneur of the Year in June.

In a previous interview with the Catalyst, Braswell said that despite employing 51,000 nurses, he is always looking to help one more.

The Gale app allows healthcare facilities to post open shifts, and clinicians to instantly accept and receive pay the same day. Photos provided.

He believes innovation is the answer to achieving that goal. At the ceremony, he recalled how his grandfather plowed fields with a mule. Braswell noted that farmers now utilize “computerized tractors,” and he plans to bolster the healthcare industry through similar technological advances.

There is clearly a need, as 80% of respondents in a nurse.org survey earlier this year said their units are understaffed, and 87% of nurses reported feeling burned out over the past year.

A joint survey by the American Health Care Association and Nation Center for Assisted Living highlighted an even greater problem in those facilities. It stated that 98% of nursing homes experienced staffing shortages this year, and 73% risk closing.

Braswell is also working to mitigate the nursing shortage through the Gale Healthcare Foundation, which has committed $500,000 to support nursing school scholarships over the next two years. The goal is to raise additional funds through partnerships and provide over $1 million to help license and train nursing professionals.

The expanded local footprint, Braswell noted, will also help create good jobs throughout Tampa Bay. He said opening such an expansive facility felt “insane.”

“But the last office was too, and we outgrew that,” added Braswell. “I truly believe we’ll outgrow this because of everything we do every day.”