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NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA & VOLUSIA/BREVARD GRAND ROUNDS
AdventHealth Breaks Ground on New Offsite Emergency Room in Marion County
The AdventHealth West Florida Division announced plans to open a new offsite emergency room (ER) in Marion County. The new ER will provide more access to health care services in the growing communities of Belleview and The Villages.
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Construction has started on a $18 million, 13,000 square-foot, 12-bed facility that will be located at 5934 US 441, Belleview, FL 34420. The location will be a full-service ER, and will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for patients and EMS paramedic teams. AdventHealth Belleview ER will be staffed with board certified emergency medicine physicians as well as nurses who specialize in emergency care for adults and children. The ER will also offer state of the art, on-site diagnostic imaging services including x-ray, ultrasound, CT scans and onsite laboratory services so patients can receive real-time results, enabling better diagnosis and treatment.
“The addition of AdventHealth Belleview ER is a testament to our commitment to expand and elevate the quality of the care in the communities we serve,” said Joe Johnson, President and CEO of AdventHealth Ocala. “This new emergency room will provide more convenient access for families to receive the best emergency care when they need it most.”
AdventHealth Belleview is slated to open Fall 2021. The construction and opening of the ER is expected to provide more than 100 jobs in Marion County.
This will be the second offsite emergency in Marion County. AdventHealth West Florida Division also operates AdventHealth TimberRidge ER in Ocala. AdventHealth Ocala Awarded a 'B' from Leapfrog 2020
AdventHealth Ocala was awarded a ‘B’ in the fall 2020 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, a national distinction recognizing AdventHealth Ocala’s achievements protecting patients from harm and providing safer health care. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national watchdog organization committed to health care quality and safety.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses up to 27 measures of publicly available hospital safety data to assign grades to more than 2,600 U.S. acute-care hospitals twice per year. The Hospital Safety Grade’s methodology is peer-reviewed and fully transparent, and the results are available to the public.
“How we care for our community makes a difference and the scores will reflect that,” said Patricia Price, Interim Chief Nursing Officer of AdventHealth Ocala. “We are continuing to implement key strategies to improve patient safety, reduce infections and create a culture of safety to make sure we are providing the best care possible to every patient, every time. Thanks to our dedicated administrators and care team members, we can continue to create a high quality, safe environment for anyone needing our care.”
The Safety Grade assigns an ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ or ‘F’ grade to all general hospitals across the country and is updated every six months. It is based on a hospital’s performance in preventing medical errors, injuries, accidents, infections and other harms to patients in their care.
AIM ImmunoTech's Drug Ampligen Awarded Orphan Drug Designation for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
OCALA — AIM ImmunoTech Inc. (NYSE American: AIM), an immuno-pharma company focused on the research and development of therapeutics to treat immune disorders, viral diseases and multiple types of cancers, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on December 17, 2020 granted Orphan Drug Designation status to AIM’s drug Ampligen (rintatolimod) for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.
The Orphan Drug Designation program provides orphan status to drugs and biologics which are defined as those intended for the treatment, prevention or diagnosis of a rare disease or condition, which is one that affects less than 200,000 persons in the United States or meets cost recovery provisions of the act. The status helps incentivize the treatment of therapies to treat unmet medical needs by providing a company with seven years of exclusivity rights once a drug reaches market.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States and the only cancer, among those most commonly diagnosed, with a five-year survival rate at just six percent, according to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
AIM recently announced receipt of statistically significant positive pancreatic cancer survival results from a multi-year Early Access Program conducted at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands. The median overall survival was approximately two-fold higher – that is 200% – in the Ampligen arm, as compared to a historical control cohort matched for age, gender, stage of disease and number of cycles of Folfirinox therapy.
“This study data demonstrates that Ampligen has the potential to extend the survival rates of people suffering with pancreatic cancer significantly when compared to the traditional standard of care for this deadly disease,” said AIM CEO Thomas K. Equels.
AIM ImmunoTech Inc. is an immuno-pharma company focused on the research and development of therapeutics to treat multiple types of cancers, immune disorders, and viral diseases, including COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
ORMC Named Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospital
OCALA, FL— Ocala Regional Medical Center was this week named as one of the nation’s top performing hospitals by Fortune and IBM® Watson Health®. The annual Fortune/IBM 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals study spotlights leading short-term, acute care, non-federal US hospitals that treat a broad spectrum of cardiology patients. The study is designed to identify impartial, actionable, and attainable benchmarks for hospital and clinical leaders as they work to raise their own organizations’ standards of performance in cardiac care.
“This achievement is a demonstration of the patientfocused approach adopted by our multi-disciplinary team in the care of patients and families in need of heart surgery. We are motivated to continue the pursuit of excellence on behalf of our patients,” says Omeni Osian, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgery Medical Director, Ocala Health. Paul Urban, MD, FACC, Medical Director Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and Chest Pain Center at Ocala Health says, “We are very proud to be recognized as a 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospital. This award demonstrates our continued commitment to providing the highest quality care for patients with heart attack, heart failure and coronary stenting procedures.”
“Cardiovascular services is a foundational service at Ocala Health and this recognition reflects our continued commitment to deliver the highest quality of care for the cardiovascular patients in the communities we serve,” says Chad Christianson, CEO, Ocala Health. “In the coming weeks, Ocala Regional Medical Center will be opening a cardiovascular unit that includes 34 inpatient beds dedicated to Cardiac ICU services and Ocala Health will also be celebrating the addition of a cardiac cath recovery space and new cath lab at West Marion Community Hospital. As being named the only top 50 cardiovascular hospital in the region by Fortune and IBM Watson Health, this is further proof that these additional investments highlight the best in class service Ocala Health provides for our community’s cardiovascular patients. We look forward to continuing to invest in best in class facilities that complement the high quality service we provide.”
This year's study included 980 U.S. hospitals with cardiovascular service lines. Based on comparisons between the study winners and a peer group of similar hospitals in the study, the winners delivered better outcomes while operating more efficiently and at a lower cost. Extrapolating the results of this year's study, if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those treated in the award-winning facilities:
• More than 7,000 additional lives could be saved
• More than 5,000 heart patients could be complication-free • More than $1.6 billion in inpatient costs could be saved
“With more than 120 million American adults living with some form of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular services are among the most critical in healthcare,” said Ekta Punwani, 100 Top Hospitals Program Lead, IBM Watson Health. “Hospitals are constantly working to improve clinical and operational performance, and the exceptional organizations on this list demonstrate the standard for top performing cardiac care. Their benchmarks serve as a real-world checkpoint for cardiovascular care across the U.S.”
The annual report highlights the top-performing cardiovascular hospitals in the U.S. based on a balanced scorecard of publicly available clinical, operational, and patient satisfaction metrics and data.
New Officers Named to Parrish Medical Center’s Board of Directors
TITUSVILLE — Parrish Medical Center’s board of directors, in accordance with its bylaws, held an election of officers during its January board meeting. The election resulted in the following office appointments:
Chairman of the Board: Robert L. Jordan, Jr. Mr. Jordan has served as a member of the Board of Directors since 1998, most recently serving as Vice Chairman. Mr. Jordan is chairman, president & CEO of Genesis VII and has more than 31 years of experience in the Aerospace field and holds numerous board positons in the public and private sectors.
Vice Chairman: Stanley Retz, CPA. Mr. Retz has more than with TEPAS Breast Center
Melbourne Regional Medical Center and TEPAS Breast Center are announcing a partnership to provide breast imaging and advanced breast care services to the Space Coast community.
TEPAS Breast Center, established in 2007, is Brevard’s first comprehensive breast center offering advanced breast care services including 3D Mammography, 4D breast ultrasound, image guided breast biopsies, clinical consultation, support services and more.
Led by a team of board-certified radiologists and a breast surgeon, TEPAS Breast Center was created to deliver more accurate prevention, early detection, diagnosis and support services in an environment of compassionate and coordinated care and support.
“Partnering with TEPAS, allows us to bring together tech-
UF Health Vascular Surgery at Halifax Health, with board-certified vascular surgeons Robert J. Feezor, MD, and Michael Yacoub, MD, located in Daytona Beach, Florida, has achieved a three-year term of accreditation by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission, or IAC, in Vascular Testing in the area(s) of Peripheral Venous Testing, Peripheral Arterial Testing, and Extracranial Cerebrovascular Testing. IAC accreditation is a “seal of approval” that patients can rely on as an indicator of consistent quality care and dedication to continuous improvement.
Cardiovascular diseases are the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. On average, one American dies every 39 seconds of cardiovascular disease disorders of the heart and blood vessels. Stroke, a disorder of the blood supply to the brain, is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the country, with nearly 800,000 new strokes occurring annually. Early detection of life-threatening heart disorders, stroke, and other diseases is possible through the use of vascular testing procedures. This latest accreditation awarded to UF Health Vascular Surgery at Halifax 30 years of experience as a certified public accountant working on audits for governmental entities.
Treasurer: Peggy Crooks, retired banking executive.
Secretary: Elizabeth Galfo, MD. Dr. Galfo is the Chief Medical Officer of Hospice of St. Francis, and has served as the Medical Director for the organization since 1997.
Member-at-Large and Immediate Past Chair: Herman Cole, Col, USAF (Ret).
In addition to the board officers, the nine-member board of directors includes Billie Fitzgerald, Maureen Rupe, Jerry
Noffel, and Ashok Shah, MD. nology and expertise of our two organizations in a coordinated environment”, said Ron Gicca, President of Melbourne Regional Medical Center - a private 119 bed acute care hospital in Brevard County. “TEPAS and Melbourne Regional Medical Center want to ensure that patients needing breast cancer services and treatment can achieve their needs in timely and coordinated care without duplication of services.”
TEPAS coordinates treatment and care with medical oncology, radiation oncology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, physical therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, breast prosthesis, nipple tattooing and hair restoration.
TEPAS offers an inviting, comforting and compassionate environment for women undergoing breast cancer surveil-
UF Health Vascular Surgery at Halifax Health Earns Vascular Testing Accreditation by the IAC
lance and diagnostic studies and is accepting new patients. Health demonstrates the facility’s ongoing commitment to providing quality patient care in vascular testing.
There are many factors that contribute to an accurate diagnosis based on vascular testing. The training and experience of the technologist performing the procedure, the type of equipment used and the quality assessment metrics each facility is required to measure, all contribute to a positive patient outcome.
Accreditation by the IAC indicates that UF Health Vascular Surgery at Halifax Health has undergone an intensive application and review process and is found to be in compliance with the published standards, demonstrating a commitment to quality patient care in vascular testing. Comprised of a detailed self-evaluation followed by a thorough review by a panel of medical experts, the IAC accreditation process enables both the critical operational and technical components of the applicant facility to be assessed, including representative case studies and their corresponding final reports.
Halifax Health | UF Health Welcome Endocrinologist to Diabetes Program
Endocrinologist, Poonam Kapadia, M.D., has joined the Halifax Health – UF Health group of medical practices headquartered at Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach.
Kapadia is a board-certified internist with specialty training in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism. Her clinical interests include the management of diabetes and thyroid disease, as well as adrenal and pituitary pathology. She is committed to spending quality time with her patients, in hopes of building rapport and giving patients the tools and education to be successful in managing their diabetes care while minimizing complications from this chronic disease.
Endocrinology services opened on Monday, November 2 in temporary offices. In the second quarter of 2021, Kapadia will move to be a part of the new 2,800-square-foot Lohman Diabetes Center of Excellence at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach. The Center of Excellence will be located in the renamed Lohman Professional Building.
“I am very excited to be a part of this new diabetes center and serve the patients of Volusia County. Diabetes has such a profound impact on patients’ lives, not only on their physical health, but also on the psychosocial components,” said Kapadia. “A need for additional comprehensive diabetes care has been identified here, and I am truly excited to help fulfill that need.”
Nancy and Lowell Lohman are making a $4 million donation to establish the center. It is conceived as a one-stop resource center for diabetes patients seeking access to world-class endocrinologists, on-site lab work, educational and lifestyle coaching, and more.
“I am so grateful for this unique opportunity,’’ Kapadia said. “With the generous donation from the Lohman family, we will be better equipped to help our patients and fulfill the mission of managing diabetes care for Volusia County.”
Kapadia received a bachelor’s degree and graduated with honors from Washington University in St. Louis with a double major in biology and anthropology.
She earned her medical degree from the Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida and completed an internship in internal medicine at Emory University in Atlanta. She also received training in internal medicine at the University of Central Florida. Kapadia completed a two-year fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism, at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville.
“I went to medical school to help people, and I was drawn to the field of endocrinology because of the longitudinal relationships we develop with patients,” Kapadia said. “I look forward to creating lasting relationships with my patients and helping them achieve better health outcomes.”
Along with practicing medicine, Kapadia, who was raised in Orlando, Florida, said she enjoys trying new recipes, traveling and spending time with her husband and young son.
For further information on the Lowell and Nancy Lohman Diabetes Education Prevention Network, please visit halifaxhealth.org/diabetes.
