July 2 2021 –  Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association [BCBSA] selects Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center as a Blue Distinction Center+ for Knee and Hip Replacement, part of the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program. Blue Distinction Centers are nationally designated healthcare facilities that show a commitment to delivering high-quality patient safety and better health outcomes, based on objective measures that were developed with input from the medical community and leading accreditation and quality organizations. 
 
“Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center is proud to be recognized by BCBSA for meeting the robust selection criteria for knee and hip replacements set by the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program”, said Teresa Urquhart, chief executive officer for Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.  “This designation is a testament to the hard work and dedication our orthopedic medical staff provides to each patient who is treated at our hospital.  We could not be more grateful for this accomplishment.”
 
Facilities designated as Blue Distinction Centers® for Knee and Hip Replacement demonstrate expertise in total knee and total hip replacement surgeries, resulting in fewer patient complications and hospital readmissions. Designated facilities include hospitals (with and without an onsite Intensive Care Unit) and Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC). 
 
All designated facilities must maintain national accreditation, and ASCs are also required to have an advanced orthopedic certification. In addition to meeting these quality thresholds, hospitals designated as Blue Distinction Centers+ are on average 20 percent more cost-efficient in an episode of care compared to other facilities.  Quality is key: only those facilities that first meet nationally established, objective quality measures will be considered for designation as a Blue Distinction Center+. 
 
For more information about our orthopedics program and services, go to www.pbgmc.com/services/orthopedics or call 561-622-1411.
 
 
 
 
About Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center: 
Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center is a 199-bed acute care hospital serving the medical and healthcare needs of Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast for over 50 years. The hospital was the first in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast to perform open-heart surgery and has since remained one of the area’s leading heart hospitals, having performed nearly 19,000 open-heart surgeries and more than 100,000 cardiac catheterizations to date. 
 
Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center offers comprehensive cardiac care and advanced minimally-invasive procedures including Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR), MitraClip, and Watchman. The hospital is the first in Palm Beach, Broward and Martin County to adopt the minimally invasive convergent approach to treat patients with atrial fibrillation.  The hospital’s outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program is designed for people recovering from a heart attack, coronary bypass or valve surgery, and angioplasty or stent procedures. 
Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center offers advanced orthopedic care to our community. Some of the services offered include: total joint replacements for hip, knee and shoulder, sports medicine, arthroscopy, podiatry, fracture management and inpatient/outpatient rehabilitation. In 2019, Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center was the only hospital in the State of Florida to utilize the NAVIO robotic-assisted surgical system to perform total and partial knee replacements. 
Additional services include an Advanced Certified Primary Stroke Center, diagnostic imaging, general and robotic surgery, an Epilepsy Program and 24-hour emergency care. Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center’s Emergency Department offers all private rooms and is equipped with technology to help increase patient comfort, reduce wait times and provide up-to-the-minute patient status, as well as immediate access to film-based radiological images, interpretations and related data. The hospital’s Epilepsy Program is the first of its kind in Palm Beach County to have a dedicated Epilepsy Monitoring Unit that is equipped with long-term video monitoring, a specialized form of an EEG for patients who suffer from seizures. The hospital acquired the da Vinci Xi Robotic Surgical System which can be used across a spectrum of minimally-invasive procedures such as cardiovascular, colorectal, general surgery, gynecology, urology and more. 
The hospital was the recipient of the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award with Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus from 2015 – 2020 and also was named a High Performance Hospital for Heart Failure in U.S. News and World Report’s 2020-2021 Best Hospitals. Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center was also named as the best heart center in Palm County from the Palm Beach Post 2020 Best of Palm Beach County Awards. For more information or for a complimentary physician referral, please call (833)-619-8831 or visit www.pbgmc.com.
 


July 2, 2021 – Effective immediately, Lee Health is returning to pre-COVID-19 pandemic visitation hours for non-COVID-19 patients. Visitation hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. As necessary for patient care, the number of visitors in a room at one time may be limited at the discretion of the patient’s care team. Visitation is not allowed for COVID-19 patients except for cases of compassionate care. 
 
All visitors must undergo symptom and exposure risk screening at facility entrances and wear a face covering per CDC guidance for universal source control. For this reason, there can be no visitation by children under the age of 2. Children over the age of 2 are required to wear masks like all other visitors, including in mom-baby units. In OB areas, visitation by children under the age of 12 is limited to siblings of the newborn. Other visitation by children can resume to pre-pandemic guidelines. 
 
The movement of visitors throughout the health care facility is restricted and should be limited to only the patient they are visiting or activities related to that patient. Visitation is not allowed during an aerosol-generating procedure. 
For outpatient surgery patients, their companion is now allowed to wait inside the facility waiting area once the patient goes into the operating room. While waiting for the patient during surgery, the visitor must remain physically distanced from others and wear a face covering while in the waiting area. The visitor is not allowed to wander throughout the facility while waiting. 
 
For compassionate care visits of COVID-19 patients, gowns, gloves and hospital-supplied masks are required. Training on the donning, doffing and discarding of personal protective equipment is required for those visiting COVID-19 patients. Compassionate visits for COVID-positive patients may include guardians for patients such as minors or those who are developmentally disabled if they normally live with the patient.
 
People who are at high risk for severe illness from COVID-19 should consider not visiting for their own safety. For a list of conditions that put someone at risk of severe illness, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html. 
For more information about Lee Health, visit www.LeeHealth.org. 
 
 
 
About Lee Health
Since the opening of the first hospital in 1916, Lee Health has been a health care leader in Southwest Florida, constantly evolving to meet the needs of the community. A non-profit, integrated health care services organization, Lee Health is committed to the well-being of every individual served, focused on healthy living and maintaining good health. Staffed by caring people, inspiring health, services are conveniently located throughout the community in four acute care hospitals, two specialty hospitals, outpatient centers, walk-in medical centers, primary care and specialty physician practices and other services across the continuum of care. Learn more at www.LeeHealth.org.
 


July 2 2021 – Holy Cross Health has been recognized as a 5-star Hospital for 2021 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Holy Cross Health was one of only 455 hospitals nationally to receive the 5-star rating. 
 
CMS created the Five-Star Quality Rating System to help consumers, their families, and caregivers choose highly rated hospitals and providers in their area.
 
The annual CMS stars rankings are assigned to hospitals nationwide based on their performance across five quality categories: mortality, safety, readmission, patient experience and timely and effective care. Holy Cross was one of only 25 hospitals awarded five stars in Florida in 2021 and one of only three hospitals in South Florida. 
 
“We are proud to be recognized with a 5-star rating from CMS,” said Mark Doyle, president and CEO of Holy Cross Health. “This is a credit to our entire Holy Cross Health team, the remarkable physicians, nurses, technicians, caregivers, support staff and our leadership who are committed each and every day to providing compassionate and expert quality care to our patients and their families.” 
 
About Holy Cross Health:
A member of Trinity Health, Fort Lauderdale-based Holy Cross Hospital, dba Holy Cross Health, is a full-service, non-profit, Catholic, teaching hospital operating in the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy. Holy Cross has been named one of the top 10 hospitals in the Miami metro area and among the top 30 in the state in U.S. News and World Report’s 2020-2021 Best Hospital rankings. Through strategic collaborations and a commitment to being a person-centered, transforming, healing presence, the 557-bed hospital offers progressive inpatient, outpatient and community outreach services and clinical research trials to serve as our community’s trusted health partner for life. Holy Cross Health also encompasses Holy Cross HealthPlex outpatient facility, urgent care centers and more than 50 Holy Cross Medical Group physician practices. To learn more about Holy Cross Health, visit holy-cross.com. Connect @holycrossfl. 
 


July 2  2021 – St. Mary’s Medical Center is the first hospital in Florida to remove a blood clot in the brain using Rapid Medical’s new TIGERTRIEVER device – he only clot removal tool that is adjustable inside the brain. TIGERTRIEVER enables neuro interventionalists to better remove blood clots and restore blood flow to the brain following a stroke – a condition that devastates 800,000 Americans annually. Dr. Ali Malek, medical director of the comprehensive stroke center at the hospital, performed the procedure.
 
“This new technology gives our team an even better opportunity to capture clots that form in the brain so we can treat someone having a stroke as quickly as possible,” said Dr. Ali Malek.  “Using the TIGERTRIEVER is a breakthrough in our community, and we look forward to providing the level of care needed for patients who come to our comprehensive stroke center.”
 
TIGERTRIEVER is the first and only adjustable clot retriever, providing physicians with greater control and adaptability to varying patient anatomy and circumstances. While viewing the device under x-ray guidance, physicians can adjust it to match the vessel size and better capture the clot. 
 
“This is just another example as to why St. Mary’s Medical Center continues to be at the forefront of neurologic care when it comes to treating strokes,” said Cynthia McCauley, chief executive officer of St. Mary’s Medical Center & Palm Beach Children’s Hospital. “We look forward to using this new technology to treat our patients so they can receive the quality care they deserve when they are brought to our hospital.”
 
St. Mary’s Medical Center is an award-winning Comprehensive Stroke Center providing quality care in stroke prevention, stroke management, and stroke rehabilitation.  Our center is equipped with some of the latest diagnostic and therapeutic advances to quickly and accurately diagnose and treat stroke patients.  Patients benefit from a range of comprehensive medical, surgical and minimally invasive treatment options, as well as access to clinical trials and research.  
 
For more information on our comprehensive services, go to www.stmarysmc.com or call 561-844-6300.  
 
 
 
About St. Mary’s Medical Center
St. Mary’s Medical Center is a 460-bed acute care hospital located at 901 45th Street in West Palm Beach. The hospital has been serving the medical and health care needs of the greater West Palm Beach area for more than 80 years. St. Mary’s Medical Center offers a broad array of adult and pediatric services, including: a Level 1 Trauma Center, a state-designated Pediatric Trauma Referral Center, Comprehensive Stroke Center and a state-designated Brain and Spinal Cord Acute Injury Center. Additional services include the Neuroscience Center, High-Risk Obstetrical Unit with a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, the Rehabilitation Institute, the Memory Disorder Center, Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center, Schwartz Dialysis Center and the Institute for Mental Health.  Pediatric services are provided at the Palm Beach Children’s Hospital at St. Mary’s Medical Center, which is the only dedicated children’s hospital between Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando. Along with 24/7 dedicated pediatric emergency and trauma care, Palm Beach Children’s Hospital’s medical staff consists of 196 pediatricians in 36 subspecialties. These include limb reconstruction and lengthening at the Paley Orthopedic and Spine Institute, pediatric oncology program, which includes membership in the Children’s Oncology Group – a clinical trials group supported by the National Cancer Institute, and pediatric orthopedics. In addition, in-house pediatric intensivists work with area pediatricians to care for children while staying at Palm Beach Children’s Hospital.  St. Mary’s Medical Center is fully accredited by the Joint Commission, the nation’s oldest and largest hospital accreditation agency, and is a member of the Children’s Hospital Association. The hospital has won many prestigious awards, including the Tenet Circle of Excellence award.  To learn more about St. Mary’s Medical Center and Palm Beach Children’s Hospital, visit www.stmarysmc.com, www.palmbeachchildrens.com or call 561-844-6300.
 


July 1, 2021 – Today marked the official grand opening celebration of Fishermen’s Community Hospital in Marathon, Florida. The ribbon-cutting event celebrated the culmination of Baptist Health South Florida’s commitment to the Florida Keys community’s health and well-being. The celebration was streamed live via Zoom and Facebook Live and hosted by Drew Grossman, chief executive officer of Fishermen’s Community Hospital, alongside Baptist Health executives and community leaders. 
 
 
“Baptist Health is heavily investing in communities throughout South Florida to ensure access to high-quality care for all who need it,” said Drew Grossman, CEO of Fishermen’s Community Hospital and Mariners Hospital. “This new facility is an extension of our commitment to providing the best healthcare to all residents and visitors in the Keys.”
 
Fishermen’s Community Hospital has been caring for the Florida Keys community since it opened in 1962. The hospital was closed in September 2017 when Hurricane Irma caused extensive damage to much of the area. A field hospital was quickly opened to provide uninterrupted care to the community. In July 2018, Baptist Health replaced the field hospital with a modular facility.
 
“This day has significant meaning,” said Jay Hershoff, chair of the hospital’s Board of Directors. “Not only is it a celebration of the completion of the hospital, but on this day four years ago, Baptist Health made a commitment to the Keys community with the acquisition of Fishermen’s. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Baptist never wavered in its commitment to the Keys community and immediately got to work making a plan to replace the damaged facility.”
 
With the completion of the new, 37,330-square-foot facility, Fishermen’s Community Hospital now provides specialized services such as 24/7 emergency care with telestroke services to give stroke patients immediate access to Board-certified neurologists, an on-site helipad, six inpatient beds, including two intensive care beds with 24/7 monitoring, nine emergency department beds, five additional recovery beds, diagnostic imaging, rehabilitation and laboratory services. In addition, Fishermen’s is now home to the southernmost branch of Miami Cancer Institute, part of Baptist Health, providing patients with high-quality oncology care close to home. 
 
 
About Fishermen’s Community Hospital
Fishermen’s Community Hospital is part of Baptist Health South Florida, the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 11 hospitals, nearly 23,000 employees, more than 4,000 physicians and more than 100 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices spanning across Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Baptist Health has internationally renowned centers of excellence in cancer, cardiovascular care, orthopedics and sports medicine, and neurosciences. In addition, it includes Baptist Health Medical Group; Baptist Health Quality Network; and Baptist Health Care On Demand, a virtual health platform. A not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to its faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence, Baptist Health has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and by Ethisphere as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. For more information, visit BaptistHealth.net/Newsroom and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.