Baptist Health South Florida announced an expansion of its physician leadership team with the appointments of Bernie Fernandez, M.D., as the new Chief Executive Officer of Baptist Health Medical Group, and Jack A. Ziffer, Ph.D., M.D., to Executive Vice President and Chief Medical and Clinical Transformation Officer for Baptist Health South Florida.

 

Dr. Fernandez, who most recently was president of Cleveland Clinic Florida, will lead Baptist Health Medical Group. In a newly established role at Baptist Health, Dr. Ziffer will define the strategy and vision for the overall expansion of physician enterprise initiatives and represent physician interests at the highest levels of the organization.

 

Dr. Fernandez, an internist who specializes in vascular medicine, oversaw Cleveland Clinic Florida’s 200 physicians, 2,000 employees and multiple locations throughout the region. Dr. Ziffer is an internationally recognized expert in cardiac radiology and nuclear medicine and the inaugural CEO of Baptist Health Medical Group.

 

In 2013, Dr. Fernandez was appointed to the Florida Board of Medicine by Governor Rick Scott, and currently serves as vice chairman. He also serves on the faculty of Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. Active in the South Florida community, Dr. Fernandez is a member of the Sun Sentinel’s South Florida 100 and Broward Workshop. He serves on numerous boards, including the Community Foundation of Broward, the Orange Bowl Committee and the World Presidents’ Organization.

 

A luminary physician in the field of cardiac imaging, Dr. Ziffer is a founding member and past president of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography and past vice president of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology. He also has held numerous national leadership roles, including on the Cardiovascular Council of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and the American Board of Nuclear Medicine. In addition, he is a clinical professor of radiology at FIU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

 

Two top national physicians have been recruited to lead Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute’s Adult Heart Transplant and Mechanical Circulatory Support Program.

 

The two physicians are Ioana Dumitru, M.D., who is the Medical Director Adult Cardiac Transplant Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy, and Enrique Gongora, M.D., who is the Medical Director of Heart Transplant Surgery. Both are employed physicians of the Memorial Physician Group.

 

Dr. Ioana Dumitru is a board-certified advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist. She earned her medical degree from the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania in 1996. She completed her residency in internal medicine at St. Joseph Hospital/Northwestern Medical School in Chicago in 2000. Dr. Dumitru completed her fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and her fellowship in heart failure and cardiac transplantation at Washington University School of Medicine, in 2003. Prior to joining Memorial Healthcare System, Dr. Dumitru was the founder and Medical Director of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

 

Dr. Enrique Gongora is a board-certified cardiac surgeon. He earned his medical degree from the Universidad del Rosario in Bogota in 1992. Dr. Gongora completed residency training in general surgery and a fellowship in surgical critical care at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC. He then completed a residency in cardiothoracic surgery at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester. He then pursued further fellowship training in adult cardiac surgery and thoracic transplantation/mechanical circulatory support at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Prior to joining Memorial Healthcare System, Dr. Gongora served as Director of Thoracic Transplantation at Scott & White Clinic-Texas A & M Health Science Center College Medicine (Temple, TX) and as Surgical Director of Heart Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support at Drexel University College of Medicine, Hahnemann University Hospital (Philadelphia, PA).

 

 

Tenet Florida Physician Services (TFPS) is proud to announce Dr. Adrian Legaspi, internationally respected for his expertise in surgical oncology, has joined TFPS and is the new Tenet Florida Medical Director for the Advanced Surgical Oncology Network. Dr. Legaspi comes to TFPS with extensive experience in minimally invasive and complex oncological robotic procedures. His areas of interest include: esophageal cancer, primary and secondary liver cancers and pancreatic cancer. Dr. Legaspi is on-staff at Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah. Since 1990, Dr. Legaspi has practiced surgical oncology in South Florida including most recently as the Director of Hepato-biliary and Foregut Oncology in the Division of Surgical Oncology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.

 

For education and training, Dr. Legaspi completed a clinical fellowship in surgical oncology from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a clinical research fellowship in the department of surgery at The New York Hospital Cornell University Medical Center. He finished surgical residencies with New Jersey Medical School, University Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) affiliated hospitals and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Legaspi earned his medical degree from Army Medical School in Mexico City, Mexico. After completing his extensive training, Dr. Legaspi started practicing surgical oncology in 1987 when he joined the faculty at the University of Miami Medical School, in the division of Surgical Oncology. There, he received a Career Development Award grant from the American Cancer Society for cancer research.

 

From 1996-1997, Dr. Legaspi was recognized for superior clinical abilities in surgical oncology by the publication The Best Doctors in America: Southeast Region. Dr. Legaspi was also selected as a top physician in multiple editions of The Best Doctors in America and in 2011, earned another distinction as “Most Compassionate Doctor” by the publication.

 

Dr. Legaspi is now an active faculty member at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University. During his medical career he is noted for the implementation of several beneficial surgical oncology procedures including microwave ablation for the management of primary and secondary hepatic malignancies. Dr. Legaspi has also published numerous scientific publications relating to oncology and surgery in peer reviewed journals. He has written numerous abstracts on his surgical oncology research and participated as an invited lecturer at several conferences during his professional medical career.

 

Delray Medical Center promotes Cheri Archer to administrative director of Pinecrest Rehabilitation and Outpatient Hospital.

 

Archer joined Pinecrest in July 2000 as an occupational therapist in the orthopedic and neuro/trauma units. She worked her way up to her most recent role in 2005 as Director of Rehabilitation. Prior to joining Delray Medical Center, Archer served as the lead occupational therapist at HCR/Manor Care.

 

Archer earned her Master’s degree in occupational therapy from Florida International University in Miami and her Bachelor’s in health services administration from the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

 

Delray Medical Center promotes Theresa Bajor to director of case management.

 

Bajor has been employed at Delray Medical Center since July 2012. Prior to her promotion, she was the interim manager of case management for the hospital.

 

Bajor earned her bachelor of science in nursing from Wilmington University in Delaware and an associate of science in nursing from Cumberland County College in New Jersey.

 

Miami Jewish Health Systems Foundation recently named Glenda Weiss-Rodriguez as Director of Development.

 

Prior to joining Miami Jewish Health Systems, Rodriguez worked for the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine as Director of Medical Alumni and Parent Development. She was responsible for the planning, marketing and implementation of the medical school’s annual giving program, endowed scholarship fundraising efforts, and stewardship events.

 

Ashley Boxer was recently employed by Memorial Healthcare System to serve as Government Relations Manager.

 

Most recently, Boxer was corporate manager of government and community relations for Baptist Health South Florida. Boxer developed an interest in healthcare issues while pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Telecommunications News at the University of Florida.

 

After graduating, Boxer relocated to her hometown of Miami and started her career in the non-profit sector at the National Kidney Foundation of Florida.

 

She developed corporate fundraising efforts and programming in Southeast and Central Florida. Following this, Boxer accepted a position with the American Heart Association as Director of Marketing and Communications for the tri-county area.

 

Boxer is involved with numerous organizations throughout Broward County and currently sits on various boards. In 2012, she was recognized by the March of Dimes as a Broward County Woman of Distinction, and noted as the youngest honoree to receive this award.

 

Jon Reistroffer is the Chief of Fiscal Service at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. He transferred from the Department of Defense where he was the Senior Financial Advisor for Ministry of Interior in Kabul Afghanistan. For two years, he mentored Senior Afghan Officials on planning and executing budgets, modernizing payroll system and developing strategic financial policies.

 

His previous experience was with the City of Houston as an Accounting Manager where he managed the assets and capital improvement projects for sixteen city departments. He also managed capitalization of projects, preparation of financial statements, and annual audit.

 

Reistroffer served twenty years in the United States Marine Corps as a Comptroller, Finance Officer, and Program and Budget Officer in the Pentagon.

 

Delray Medical Center congratulates Darla Fish on her new position as Director of Cardiac Telemetry.

 

Fish was most recently the Director of Surgical Orthopaedics and Surgical Stepdown at Delray Medical Center, where she directed the daily clinical and non-clinical operations of the department, implemented policies and procedures and reinforced hospital-wide initiatives. Prior to that, Fish was the Clinical Manager for the Medical ICU and Cardiovascular Stepdown unit at Delray Medical Center.

 

Fish received her Master of Science in Nursing, with a focus on Leadership and Financial Management from Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Healthcare Administration at Florida Atlantic University.

 

The American Heart Association recognizes Good Samaritan Medical Center as a 2014 Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite for helping employees eat better and move more.

 

“We are very proud to receive the highest level achievement as a fit-friendly company,” said Mark Nosacka, CEO. “This award confirms our success in providing engaging physical activities and wellness opportunities for our employees, both inside and outside the workplace.”

 

Platinum-level employers:

• Offer employees physical activity options in the workplace.

• Increase healthy eating options on campus.

• Promote a wellness culture in the workplace.

• Implement at least nine criteria outlined by the American Heart Association in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and culture.

• Demonstrate measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness.

 

The Fit-Friendly Worksites program is designed to be a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by making employee health and wellness a priority. Thus, Good Samaritan Medical Center is a worksite dedicated to championing the health of their employees by creating a culture of physical activity and wellness within the workplace. To achieve the platinum level status, employers must implement at least nine criteria outlines by the American Heart Association in the areas of physical activity, nutritional diet and wellness culture, as well as demonstrate measurable outcomes.

 

As a hospital that makes employee’s health and wellness a top priority, as confirmed by the Platinum Fit-Friendly Achievement, Good Samaritan Medical Center encourages and challenges employees to participate in the “Healthy at Tenet” wellness program. By enrolling and participating in this program, employees earn points for engaging in routine exercise, not smoking, getting annual dental and physical exams, flu shots and eating healthy. These points can then add up to dollars, earning employees financial reward through their personal health benefits plans.