Dr. Denis Cortese, who will become head of The Mayo Foundation next year, says he’s sad to leave Jacksonville “but you’ll see plenty of me.”
Cortese is currenlty chairman of The Mayo Clinic-Jacksonville and briefed the 400 in attendance at last week’s Cornerstone luncheon at the Osborn Center on Mayo’s progress here, its emphasis on patient care and the growing research element.
Including its St. Luke’s Hospital, the company employs 5,000 here with an annual payroll of $230 million. Almost 75,000 patients come to Mayo here each year and 53 percent are from the five-county metropolitan area. About a quarter are from elsewhere in Florida, a quarter from elsewhere in the United States and two percent are international.
“We had an impact of $724 million here last year and supported an additional 9,000 jobs with a $350 million payroll,” said Cortese. “We will continue to grow in this community.”
Cortese will move to Rochester, Minn., to lead the overall Mayo operation. In addition to the main facility in Rochester and Jacksonville, there’s also a campus in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Cornerstone is the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s business recruitment arm and is separately funded by local businesses. The next quarterly luncheon will be Nov. 1, also at the Osborn Center, with Sen. Bob Graham as the main speaker.