Grand Rounds August


U.S. News & World Report: Sarasota Memorial Named Among America's "Best Hospitals" – 6th Year In A Row

SARASOTA – For the sixth consecutive year, Sarasota Memorial Hospital has been ranked among the nation's top hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. It remains the only hospital in Southwest Florida consistently recognized on U.S.News' annual "Best Hospitals" list.
 
Authoritative and influential, U.S.News' annual "Best Hospitals" study reviews quality indicators, including death and complication rates, at nearly 5,000 hospitals each year, then ranks the 50 best in 16 specialties. Only 174 – less than 5 percent – made the grade in 2009.
 
This year, Sarasota Memorial ranked #37 for geriatric care care – a highly specialized, multi-disciplinary field of medicine dedicated to treating the complex conditions of aging and preserving the quality of life of the nation's fast-growing elderly population. The hospital rose several spots, from #43 last year.
 
Most hospitals that make it on U.S.News Best Hospitals list are teaching hospitals and major academic medical centers accustomed to seeing the toughest patients and conducting bench-to-bedside research that advances the state-of-the-art care.
 
The 16 ranked specialties are cancer; diabetes & endocrine disorders; digestive disorders; ear, nose, and throat; geriatric care; gynecology; heart and heart surgery; kidney disorders; neurology and neurosurgery; ophthalmology; orthopedics; psychiatry; rehabilitation; respiratory disorders; rheumatology; and urology.
 
The rankings combine three equally weighted factors: reputation, mortality rate and a set of care-related indicators that include quality of nursing care, nurse-to-patient ratios and advanced technology and treatments.
 
Although the reputation factor makes it a challenge for a community hospital like Sarasota Memorial to make it on the list, Sarasota Memorial has been recognized consistently since 2004 for clinical excellence in multiple specialties, including heart care & heart surgery, cancer care, orthopedics, gynecology, urology, respiratory, and ear, nose & throat care.
 

Bay Pines VA Medical Center Breaks Ground on new Radiation Therapy Center

The Bay Pines VA Medical Center broke ground today on a project that will enhance care for area veterans. The VA Medical Center is constructing a new Radiation Therapy Center where veterans will be able to receive state-of-the-art cancer care. Currently, Bay Pines VA does not offer radiation therapy; veterans requiring this type of cancer treatment must travel to Tampa VA or a community provider. 
 
The addition of the Radiation Therapy Center allows for better continuity of care, where veterans will be able to receive most types of cancer treatment on the Bay Pines VA campus. The new unit is being constructed by Phoenix Medical Construction at an estimated cost of $6.9 million and will be a freestanding building on the northeast side of the 300 acre medical center complex. Expected to open late fall of 2010, the unit is planned for almost 14,000 square feet and will include 2 shielded vaults for radiation therapy, a CT scanner, a treatment planning room, a physicists room, exam rooms, and offices. 
 

Moffitt Cancer Center Ranks 16th on U.S. News & World Report's List of America's Best Hospitals for Cancer

Moffitt Cancer Center ranks No. 16 on U.S. News & World Report's list of America's Best Hospitals for cancer. This is the 11th year in a row that Moffitt has appeared in the newsmagazine's cancer rankings. The list is available at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and will be on sale at newsstands Tuesday.
 
The rankings in 12 of the 16 specialties — all but ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology — are predominantly driven by hard data. There are four components: reputation, death rate, patient safety (new this year), and care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. In these 12 specialties, hospitals have to pass through several gates to be ranked and considered a Best Hospital:
 
In the four other specialties — ophthalmology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and rheumatology — ranking is based solely on nominations from the three most recent physician surveys.
 

TGH - USF Doctors Perform Gallbladder Removal Surgery Without General Anesthesia

Dr. Sharona Ross and Dr. Alex Rosemurgy – both University of South Florida general surgeons and Dr. Devanand Mangar, anesthesiologist with Gulf-to-Bay Anesthesiology and Chief of Staff at Tampa General Hospital, performed what they believe is the first single incision gallbladder removal without the use of general anesthesia. Instead of fully sedating the patient as is traditionally practiced, they instead used an epidural in the thoracic area. The patient was able to converse with the medical team in the operating room. Epidurals are used for women delivering babies - to reduce the pain during labor, but are inserted in a different part of the spine, the lumbar.
 
The 54 year-old patient and mother of two and grandmother of ten, Mary Harvey returned to her Tampa home on Monday and is recovering well. 
 
Doctor Ross and her partners Alex Rosemurgy MD and Michael Albrink MD pioneered the first laparoscopic endoscopic single site "LESS" surgeries (one incision through the belly button) in the Fall of 2007 at Tampa General.
 
Over 300 physicians from around the country have trained with TGH/USF and Ross, Rosemurgy and Albrink have traveled the world to teach the LESS method at conferences. To date, they have performed anti-reflux operations, appendix removals, small bowel resections, liver cysts resections, stomach tumor resections, inguinal hernia repair, removal of adrenal gland and recently the first pancreatic mass resection utilizing the LESS surgical approach - to name a few.
 
They have also performed combined operations in the same patient. (i.e. a hysterectomy and a gallbladder removal…. or a gallbladder removal and an anti-reflux procedure) They continue to refine the LESS approach to surgery, and are developing surgeries using natural orifices (vagina, anus, mouth). These gifted physicians with the University of South Florida Digestive Disorders Center are hosting a CME LESS Course at Tampa General in November of this year.
 

Volunteens Making Good Use of Summer at St. Joseph's Hospitals

For most high school students summer means hitting the beaches or malls with friends and 10-hour days playing video games.
 
But there are some Tampa teenagers making a good use of their summer.
 
More than 120 teens ages 14 through 18 are participating in St. Joseph's Hospitals 2009 Volunteer program, spending their summer vacations in departments throughout St. Joseph's Hospitals, including St. Joseph's Women's and St. Joseph's Children's Hospitals.
 

Moffitt Cancer Center IT Department Makes 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems

For the fourth consecutive year, the information technology department at Moffitt Cancer Center makes Hospitals & Health Networks 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems list. The magazine surveyed hospitals and health systems to learn how information technology is used to address five key areas: safety and quality, customer service, business processes, workforce, and public health and safety.
 
"As an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Moffitt is highly dependent on leading-edge technology for our clinical and research programs," said Mark Hulse, R.N., Moffitt's chief information officer and vice president of information technology. "Our IT staff members are highly knowledgeable and experienced technologists who work closely with their customers to meet these challenges through dedication and innovation."
 
At a time when the economic recession is forcing many U.S. hospitals to scale back or postpone IT projects, Moffitt's IT department is working even harder to meet the high expectations of patients, clinicians and researchers.
 

Moffitt Cancer Center doctor honored for contributions to molecular imaging research

Robert Gillies, Ph.D., came to Moffitt Cancer Center to assemble an imaging program that provides Total Cancer Care by matching cancer patients to the best treatment. The Academy of Molecular Imaging is honoring Gillies as a Distinguished Basic Scientist recipient, as his achievements in research have significantly contributed to advancing the field of molecular imaging.
 
Gillies' career successes have led to new understandings of the development and progression of cancer, as well as new cancer treatment options. Gillies spent years focusing on melanoma, pancreatic and breast cancers. He is expanding his expertise and research to lung cancer in hopes of being able to provide a more accurate diagnosis for each patient by analyzing features from tumor images.
 
AMI will present Gillies with a $7,500 cash award at its annual conference in Montreal, Canada Sept. 23-26. Gillies will share his work with the attendees and will be published in AMI's journal, Molecular Imaging and Biology.
 

Blake Medical Center Acquiring Healthcare America

Blake Medical Center is acquiring the multi-physician Healthcare America Medical Group. The group has four offices in Manatee County.
 
The deal takes effect September 1, but no terms have been disclosed.
 
Dr. Werther Marciales, president of Healthcare America, said the medical group will benefit from capital investments.
 
Blake CEO Daniel Friedrich said group physicians will benefit by gaining insulation from decreasing reimbursement rates.
 
Healthcare America was established in 1994 as a medical group practice.
 

Morton Plant Mease Health Care's Madonna Ptak Rehabilitation Center Awarded for Quality Care

CLEARWATER — The Madonna Ptak Rehabilitation Center (Rehab Center) is a recipient of the 2009 Step II National Quality Award by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL).
 
The award is presented to long term health care facilities that have demonstrated a continuous commitment to quality for their patients and residents, and overall organizational effectiveness. "The Rehab Center has a very positive and longstanding reputation in this community. This award is one more illustration of the values and abilities the staff and management practice on a daily basis. We are very proud Madonna Ptak Rehabilitation is part of the Morton Plant Mease Health Care team," said Glenn Waters, president of Morton Plant Mease Health Care.
 
The award program is a three-tired system. The Rehab Center received the Step I award in 2006. Of the 215 nursing and assisted living facilities that applied nationally this year for the Step II award, 26 met the strict criteria to receive the recognition.
 
AHCA/NCAL is a trade organization comprise of 11,000 members. The award program supports the principles to cultivate and nourish an environment of continuous quality improvement, openness and leadership.
 

Vizvary Opens Marketing Communication, Media Relations Consultancy

Mike Vizvary has established Seacastle Communications, Inc., an independent marketing communication and media relations consultancy serving Southwest Florida corporate, not-for-profit and public-sector clients in health care, technology, education, professional and financial services, design and construction, and retailing.
 
Vizvary has more than 16 years of experience in media relations, strategic and tactical marketing communication, and content development for print, broadcast and Web-enabled media. Vizvary served as a communications manager at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System and Ringling College of Art + Design.