Foundation Benefit Ball Raises $451,000 for Cancer Services
Viera Hospital’s 5 Stars Among Best in Florida See page 6
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Holmes Regional Earns Top Rating In Bypass Surgery
See page 8
VIERA HOSPITAL’s Winning Team of Associates, Physicians and Leaders HEALTH INSURANCE
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Alex Popowycz Joins Health First as CIO
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ealth First has welcomed Alex Popowycz as the new Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer. In this role, he is responsible for providing technology vision and leadership to the Information Technology Department. Alex will also be a member of the Executive Leadership Team. Popowycz is a proven leader in information technology with broad expertise in Internet security, identity management, privacy and emerging technology. He also has a strong business and technical skills background. He comes to Health First from Fidelity Investments, where he most recently served as Vice President, Enterprise Information Security. During his 20-year career there, he was responsible for security Alex Popowycz architecture, information security governance, risk communication and training programs. He designed and delivered solutions including cloud computing, mobile technologies and social media. He also led crossindustry initiatives in information technology and cyber security. Popowycz began his career as an Air Force officer, leading several national intelligence and information technology initiatives. Alex received a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy and an MBA from Bentley University.
Health First Medical Group Announces New CFO
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id Greenwell has joined Health First as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Health First Medical Group, the largest multi-specialty physician group in Brevard. Greenwell has more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry. He has a successful record of executive leadership
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and extensive experience in the health care industry overseeing financial administration, process improvements, budget planning and cost control, revenue cycle management and operations of large medical groups. He joins Health First from Vidan Medical Group in Greenville, N.C., where he served as Senior Administrator Revenue Cycle. He also served Sid Greenwell as CFO of the Radiology/Anesthesiology Divisions for TeamHealth in Knoxville, Tenn., Senior Manager of Perry-Smith LLP in Sacramento, Calif., and CFO for Radiological Associates of Sacramento, Inc. Sid earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Medical Practice Executive (CMPE).
Lottie Odom Named Home Care Director
ealth First Medical Group Cardiologist Dr. Khalid Sheikh, FACC, FACP, presented his lipid/ cholesterol clinical data at the International Atherosclerosis Society May 23-26 in Amsterdam. With several thousand cardiovascular specialists, scientists and clinical investigators from around the world in attendance, ISA2015 is the largest congress with a single focus on atherosclerosis. This year’s theme was Translating Atherosclerosis Dr. Khalid Sheikh Research into Novel Therapies for Humans. Dr. Sheikh is board-certified in cardiovascular diseases. His professional focuses include invasive cardiology, consultative cardiology, echocardiography, adult congenital heart disease, preventative cardiology, clinical research trials and cholesterol management.
ottie Odom has joined Health First as Home Care Director where she is responsible for directing all operations for Health First Home Care, including implementation of reliable processes that will meet and exceed national benchmarks for patient satisfaction and quality. She also will work collaboratively with all stakeholders in Lottie Odom Health First’s integrated delivery network to ensure Health First Home Care provides optimal clinical programs and transitions of care for patients. Odom is a proven leader with more than 20 years of experience in the health care field, including having served as a Registered Nurse (RN)/clinical charge nurse in the emergency room at Health n
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First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center and as an RN in the Cardiovascular Progressive Care Unit and Emergency/Critical Care. She joins Health First from her previous position of Vice President, Home Health Care of Florida in Melbourne, where she was responsible for successfully starting a Medicare-certified home health agency. Under her leadership, the organization experienced unprecedented growth while maintaining excellent clinical care, outcomes and customer satisfaction. She also has experience serving as a branch director and as a cardiopulmonary specialty director for Gentiva Health Services in Viera. Odom earned her Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from the University of Central Florida and her Associate’s degree in Nursing from Brevard Community College (now Eastern Florida State College).
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Health First Associates Support ‘March For Babies,’ Raise $24,000 For Cause
More than 100 Health First associates and their families participated in the March for Babies on April 25 at Space Coast Stadium. Together the Health First team raised more than $24,000 to help fund research to find the causes of premature birth and ways to prevent it.
Health First’s David Schmitt Named EMS Educator of the Year By Florida Department of Health Supervisor and Lead Instructor of the Health First Training Center
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he Florida Department of Health named David Schmitt, Supervisor and Lead Instructor of the Health First Training Center, as the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Educator of the Year. The award honors an EMS instructor or course coordinator who has made a positive contribution to EMS education in Florida and has successfully implemented a program or initiative that supports the fulfillment of the Florida EMS Strategic Plan. “We are very proud of David for being named EMS Educator of the Year,” said Paula Just, Chief Human Resources Officer for Health First. “Thanks to his leadership and dedication our Training Center helps train thousands of first responders and members of our community in life-saving skills that make Brevard County a safer place to live and visit.”
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Schmitt is a longtime EMTParamedic and an experienced advanced provider and instructor in the delivery of acute care, resuscitation and stabilization of the sick and injured. He has designed, implemented, presented and evaluated multiple emergency and traumarelated educational programs. The Health First Training Center offers a wide variety Dave Schmitt of educational opportunities including courses on CPR, First Aid, AED Training, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Basic Dysrhythmia, EMT and Paramedic Refresher Training. CREATED CPR DAY chmitt created the annual Health First Free CPR Day that
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has provided free CPR training to more than 10, 000 citizens of Brevard and surrounding communities. He also recently designed and provided Tactical Medical Casualty Care training to more than 700 law enforcement officers with the Brevard County Sheriff ’s Office, Cocoa Police Department, Melbourne Police Department and others as part of their Active Shooter and Officer Rescue training . Schmitt will receive his honor at an awards ceremony in mid-July in Orlando in conjunction with the State EMS Advisory Council meetings and the 41st Annual Clinical Conference (ClinCon) on Emergency Medical Services of the Emergency Medicine Learning & Resource Center (EMLRC), which sponsors the awards. n
REGISTER NOW
Health First FREE CPR Day and 5K
Be a Superhero. Learn to Save a Life. Register at HFcpr.org Saturday, June 13 at Space Coast Stadium, Viera PRIZES FOR ALL KIDS DRESSED AS SUPERHEROES 5K starts at 7 am CPR Training starts at 8:30 am All events are FREE Registration required – Register at HFcpr.org PA R T I C I PA N T S W H O C O M P L E T E T H E C P R T R A I N I N G R E C E I V E : ■ ■ ■
Free Health First CPR Day t-shirt Free ticket to a Brevard County Manatees game Certificate for a free personal gourmet pizza from Pizza Gallery & Grill in Viera
C P R D AY A C T I V I T I E S I N C L U D E : ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
First Flight helicopter landing Kids activities Brevard Zoo animals Heart Healthy cooking demonstration Brevard County Fire Rescue And more
*CPR Training is AHA “Friends & Family” and is not job certification training. H E A LT H I N S U R A N C E
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Viera Hospital Earns 5 Stars
ALL-STARS: Health First’s Community Hospital President Bill Calhoun (from left) credits the dedicated associates at Health First’s Viera Hospital and the leadership team of Kimberly Cribb, VP, Nursing at Health First’s Viera Hospital; Deborah Angerami, COO; Dianna Marks, Director, Clinical Support; and Dr. Timothy Laird for helping the hospital achieve the elite ranking. Only four hospitals in the State of Florida earned 5 stars.
Viera & Cape Canaveral Hospitals Top Performers In Brevard
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ust as stars define the quality and level of service in hotels and restaurants, the star system recently launched by the federal government to rate hospitals serves to showcase the crème de la crème in patient care. “Hospitals are leaders in sharing quality and safety information to help patients make informed decisions about their health care,” said Akin Demehin, AHA senior associate director of policy at the American
Brevard County Commissioner Curt Smith, left, presents a proclamation honoring Health First’s Viera Hospital’s 5-Star Rating to Deborah Angerami, Health First’s Viera Hospital COO, center, and Bill Calhoun, President, Community Hospitals for Health First.
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Hospital Association. Rating comparisons have been posted in the www.medicare. gov/HospitalCompare website for consumers to assess hospital performance. For Health First’s Viera Hospital, it’s all in the stars, five of them, to be exact. Viera Hospital earned top kudos - 5 stars - from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which evaluated 3,553 hospitals across the nation using a 1-to-5-star rating system for patient experience. The system was created to make it easier for consumers to choose a hospital based on the quality of care it delivers. “Because the rating is a compilation of publicly reported information, it is an easy way to promptly evaluate and determine choice about where to receive care,” said William Calhoun, FACHE, president of Health First’s Community Hospitals. The star system for hospitals is a new service provided by the federal government, which already provided similar rating gauges for nursing homes, dialysis centers, physician
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group practices and private Medicare Advantage insurance plans. Medicare suggests that consumers “use the star rating along with other quality information when making decisions about choosing a hospital.” The 5-star rating is the highest rating, reserved for only hospitals that perform the highest in customer service, based on patient experience scores reported in a survey by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and System. The survey, based on a random sample of recently discharged adult patients, and not just on Medicare, was designed to give accurate feedback on 11 facets of patient experience, topics for which patients can provide the best source of information. AMONG BEST IN FLORIDA his comprehensive survey examines the healing environment from all angles, looking at how well doctors and nurses communicate with patients, how responsive hospital staff is to patient needs, how clean, quiet and conducive to optimum recovery the hospital is and how well patients are
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educated on post-hospital settings. In all of these parameters, Viera Hospital came out on top. “Viera Hospital is one of just four hospitals in Florida and the only Brevard County based hospital with this 5-star rating,” added Calhoun. “For the Viera community and our patients, it means that we listen, treat our patients with respect and do our very best to anticipate and respond to their needs.” CMS rated 165 hospitals in Florida. Only two percent, or just four hospitals, earned the 5-star distinction. On average, Florida hospitals received 2.7 stars. Nationally, out of the 3,500 hospitals evaluated, only 251, or seven percent, received five stars. The District of Columbia, along with 13 states, could not claim a single 5-star hospital. Calhoun credits Viera Hospital’s high marks to its associates’ desire to listen, to treat patients with utmost respect and to anticipate their needs. “At the heart of our vision is to build a healthy community,” Calhoun said. “A major driver is to have a strong community hospital serving in a prominent way. The 5-star rating is a direct reflection of our vital presence being in tune with consumer needs.” Achieving such high ratings required a concerted effort from all hospital staff to spend more time with patients, including purposeful rounding, giving regular bedside shift reports between caregivers and facilitating communication through the use of in-room whiteboards. Viera Hospital’s 5-star ranking places it on a list with some of the nation’s best regarded hospitals, including Mayo Clinic facilities in Jacksonville, Phoenix and New Prague, Minn. On average, Florida hospitals, along with hospitals in
SHINING STARS: Health First’s Cape Canaveral Hospital, represented by (from left) Dr. Aaron Hattaway; Vicki Crosswell, Director, Imaging Services; Nicki Andersen, VP, Nursing; and Wes Ott, COO, was Brevard’s only hospital to earn 4 stars for patient experience.
critical care, gastroenterology, treatment for infectious diseases, ophthalmology, orthopedics, pain management, medical rehabilitation, neurology, nephrology, oncology/ hematology, oral and maxillafacial surgery, plastic surgery, radiology, rheumatology, urology, roboticsassisted surgery, urological/ gynecological surgery and pulmonology, among others.
Nevada, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, California and the District of Columbia, scored lower than hospitals in other states. Brevard’s newest nonprofit community hospital, Viera Hospital opened in 2011 as the centerpiece of a unique 50-acre health care campuses that encompasses the three story Health First’s Viera Hospital Medical Plaza, a multispecialty physician office complex and the Health First Pro-Health & Fitness Center. Viera Hospital features 84 private patient rooms with foldout sleepers for family members. More than 240 physicians are associated with the hospital, representing more than 30 different specialties. Hospital staff wear designated color-coded scrubs to identify caregiver roles. The hospital encourages 24-hour patient visitation in its Intensive Care Units. Viera Hospital offers a wide spectrum of outpatient and inpatient services, including anesthesiology, bariatrics, cardiovascular services,
CAPE CANAVERAL HOSPITAL EARNS FOUR STARS ealth First’s other hospitals also performed well. Health First’s 150 bed, multi-service Cape Canaveral Hospital earned four stars, placing it among only 16 percent of hospitals in Florida to receive this designation. Cape Canaveral Hospital was the first and only hospital to serve the barrier island communities in Central Brevard. Health First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center and Health First’s Palm Bay Hospital each earned three stars. n
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Holmes Regional Medical Center Earns Top Rating for Bypass Surgery
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ealth First’s Holmes Regional Medical Center has earned the top rating for Isolated Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) procedures, also known as bypass surgery, from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). For the reporting period of Jan. 1, 2014Dec. 31, 2014, Holmes Regional was in the top 10 percent of 1,006 participating U.S. hospitals based on the STS-developed comprehensive rating system. “We are very Dr. Scott Gettings proud of our team at the Heart Center at Health First’s Holmes Regional for their dedication to providing the best care for our community,” said Dr. Scott Gettings, Chief Medical Officer
for Health First. “This prestigious rating means patients can count on the highest level of cardiac care right here in Brevard County.” The top rating designates the highest category of quality and means bypass surgery results are statistically better than the national mean. CABG is a procedure where blood vessels from the patient’s leg, arm or chest wall are used to bypass blocked and narrowed arteries and restore adequate blood flow to the heart muscle. STS developed the comprehensive rating system based upon the riskadjusted data in four categories: n Avoidance of morbidity n Avoidance of morbidity (percentage of patients who leave hospital with no serious complications such as stroke or kidney failure) n Use of the internal mammary artery from the chest wall during
surgery, shown to lead to better results n Use of four prescribed medications following surgery, shown to improve results Founded in 1964, the STS is a notfor-profit organization representing more than 6,400 surgeons, researchers and allied healthcare professionals worldwide. n
Dr. Bruce Thomas Inducted Into Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame
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ealth First Medical Group’s Dr. Bruce Thomas, at right, has held many titles throughout his distinguished career, and now has added Hall of Fame inductee to the list. The Washington Nationals Major League Baseball Club recently recognized Dr. Thomas for his induction into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame during the seventh inning stretch at a sold out home game in Washington, D.C. Dr. Thomas serves as senior medical consultant and spring training team physician for the Washington Nationals, which he describes as the job of a lifetime. “I feel incredibly lucky,” Dr. Thomas said, “and it’s an honor and a privilege to work with these elite athletes. I don’t think anyone could love a job more than me.” It’s fitting Dr. Thomas is the first physician to be inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame since he’s been a sports medicine pioneer his entire career. He
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dreamed of being a professional baseball player; however, he realized medicine was his true calling. With the relatively new field of sports medicine, he decided to combine his two loves. In 1993 when the Marlins chose Viera for spring training, they also chose Dr. Thomas as their sports medicine specialist. This decision earned Dr. Thomas a World Series ring in 1997. He worked with the Marlins for nine years, and when they left Viera, he stayed on with the Washington Nationals. Not limited to one sport, Dr. Thomas has also served as a physician for athletes in the United States Tennis Association, the Ladies Professional Golf Association and USA Wrestling. He also helped with the World Baseball Classic and the China National Baseball Team during the Beijing Olympics. Dr. Thomas says the world of professional sports is exciting, but at the end of the day, it’s really about the
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patients. “Whether I’m helping a professional player, young athlete or a weekend golfer get back in the game, it’s all about helping people do their personal best,” he said. n
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Foundation Benefit Ball Raises $451,000 for Cancer Services
AN EVENING IN AFRICA: The Health First Foundation Benefit Ball Committee, led by Debbie Keller (center, sixth from left) helped transform the Clemente Center into the African safari for the successful annual event that benefitted Health First Cancer Services.
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he 2015 Health First Foundation Benefit Ball raised more than $451,000 for Health First Cancer Services and the purchase of state-of-the-art lung cancer detection equipment. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women. “We are excited to have surpassed our fund-raising goal. The support from the community for this annual charity event is truly inspiring,” said Terry Mohr, Health First Foundation President. “The funds raised for Health First Cancer Services will help reduce the financial burden and unnecessary stress of extended travel out of the area for patients and their families during cancer treatments.” With 500 to 700 new lung cancer cases each year in Brevard County, Health First is committed to providing the technology to aid in early detection of this deadly disease. The funds raised at this year’s Benefit Ball will go toward an endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) and electronavigation bronchoscopy (ENB) equipment. More than 475 guests attended “An Evening in Africa” on April 18 at the Clemente Center, which had been transformed into an African safari featuring giraffe, elephant and lion decorations and the sounds of tribal drum music.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT: Underwriting Committee Co-Chairs Al (from left) and Becky Dukes with Jane and Terry Mohr, Health First Foundation President.
NEWS 13 reporter Greg Pallone emcees the Benefit Ball.
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THE FRUITS OF LABOR: Health First Medical Group hematologist/oncologist Dr. Lee Scheinbart shows off a model of the new Health First Breast Center, which is expected to open later this year. The Breast Center was the beneficiary of last year’s event.
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QUALITY IS WRITTEN IN THE STARS PROUD to have Brevard’s ONLY 5 and 4 STAR Hospitals*
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and Cape Canaveral Hospital earns 4 Stars from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS evaluated 3,500 hospitals in the U.S. for quality and patient experience. Brevard’s highest scoring hospitals Only 7% of hospitals in the U.S. earned top mark of 5 Stars We are 1st, 2nd, and tied for 3rd in Brevard Star rankings were awarded based on patient satisfaction on topics such as physician and nurse communication, staff responsiveness, and hospital environment
EXPERIENCE THE DIFFERENCE Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of Viera Hospital and Cape Canaveral Hospital and a free lunch**. Viera Hospital tours available on the following Thursdays: July 2, 16 & 30 Cape Canaveral Hospital tours available on the following Thursdays: July 9 & 23 Space is limited. To register, call 321.434.6717, option 1.
Viera Hospital Cape Canaveral Hospital Holmes Regional Medical Center Palm Bay Hospital
Transportation to Viera Hospital and lunch will be provided by Health First. Please meet at the Home Depot (3373 Ronald McNair Way, Titusville, 32780) in the northwest area of the parking lot. Transportation to Cape Canaveral Hospital and lunch will be provided by Health First. Please meet at the First Baptist Church of Port St. John (3900 Fay Blvd., Cocoa, 32927). The buses for both hospitals will depart at 10:30 am and return by 2 pm. **Guests will receive a meal ticket to use in the hospital cafe.
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*As rated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. For more information visit CMS.gov
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