- December 16, 2025
New leader is tasked with planning future role for Oceanside.
When Howard Perch was a student at Flagler Palm Coast High School in the early 1980s, he would often drive by the hospital on State Road A1A south of Granada Boulevard on his way to Daytona Beach.
There was a sign for “rehabilitation,” and he said he would often think how he’d like to work there someday.
“I wanted to be physical therapist,” he said.
After getting a degree at the University of North Carolina, and working in the rehabilitation field for 20 years, Perch was recently named administrator of that health care facility, which is now Florida Hospital Oceanside.
Perch, who has the ready, confident smile, and physically fit appearance that you would expect of someone who works in physical therapy. recently talked about his new job.
He said his first task is to determine future plans for the hospital.
While well known for the Florida Hospital Peninsula Rehabilitation Center, which includes physical, occupational and speech therapy, Oceanside remains a full service hospital with imaging, lab, cardio-pulmonary and 24-hour emergency department. Perch said it’s important for the large beachside community, as well as the many tourists and visitors, to have the facility in the location.
They are licensed for 82 beds, and currently have 48 beds in rehab occupied and five in acute care.
Perch said Florida Hospital administration believes the facility is under-utilized, and it’s his job to develop a business plan. He said there will be meetings with residents and focus groups to determine what services are desired and needed.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to assess and identify the healthcare needs locally and explore ways to meet those needs,” he said. “First we have to make sure people know there is a hospital here. We want to get feedback.”
Four years ago, Perch was manager of rehabilitative services at a hospital in Iowa, when he happened to notice an ad on the Internet for a similar job at Florida Hospital.
After interviewing, he was hired as executive director of rehabilitation services for Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center, which includes five outpatient facilities. He still retains that responsibility, as well as his new job as administrator of Florida Hospital Oceanside.
Previously, Oceanside was managed by administrators at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center.
Perch is board certified in healthcare management and is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Perch enjoys working in rehabilitation, calling it a “happy place.”
“We say they get wheeled in and they walk out,” he said.
The rehab department receives patients from all over the state and even as far away as the Bahamas, he said. It’s the only rehab facility accredited for stroke care by the Commission for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities in Volusia and Flagler counties.
Perch said people that need rehab should approach it with an open mind and take full advantage, so they can remain independent. The goal is to return a person to their previous level of function.
In addition to the physical therapy staff at the hospital, Perch said also important are the nurses, who are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“They play an important role,” he said.
He said they have a reunion each year of former rehab patients and last year 400 attended.
“It’s like a huge family,” he said.
