Austin Wratchford
Chief Operating Officer
 
Austin Wratchford is the Chief Operating Officer at West Boca Medical Center. In this role, Wratchford manages the daily operations and oversees the development and implementation of long-range plans, goals and objectives for the hospital. Prior to his time at West Boca, Wratchford served as Chief Operating Officer at Raleigh General Hospital in West Virginia. In his role, he provided senior leadership to the 300 bed acute care hospital. During his career, Wratchford has experience in physician recruitment, construction projects, Joint Commission survey training and leading operational efficiency initiatives. Wratchford graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree before earning his Masters in Health Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2018, he achieved the designation as Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. 


Trulieve Cannabis Corp. and Harvest Health & Recreation Inc. announced the expiration of the 30-day waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 in connection with the previously announced proposed acquisition.

Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers commented, "Completion of the HSR milestone is exciting and we will continue to work toward closing this strategic transaction. Upon closing, we expect to leverage the expertise and resources of the combined companies to realize meaningful scale and expansion for years to come."
 
Closing of the Transaction remains subject to the satisfaction or waiver of all remaining conditions in the agreement. The Harvest shareholder vote is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2021. Both companies continue to work toward obtaining all required regulatory approvals.


June 29, 2021 — John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP, Vice Chief of the Emergency Department of Holy Cross Health, was presented with the 2021 Physician Excellence Award at this year’s First There First Care Conference, the premier EMS conference for EMTs, paramedics, nurses, physicians and other healthcare professionals.
 
The Physician Excellence Award is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to Emergency Medical Services in Florida. Dr. Cunha was instrumental in helping local EMS get access to COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccinations. 
 
“Dr. Cunha’s leadership and medical expertise helped guide our department through one of the darkest moments of its history when over half of the city’s first responders were affected by COVID-19,” said Stephen Krivjanik, the Chief of Oakland Park EMS, where Dr. Cunha has been Medical Director since 2012. “His day-to-day guidance and pursuit of medical excellence within our first responder teams allowed us to provide top-of-the-line medical care to our community. We are proud of Dr. Cunha, and we join the rest of the medical community in congratulating him on this recognition.” 
 
Board-certified in Emergency Medicine, Dr. Cunha earned his B.S. in Biology from Rutgers University and a D.O. from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, Missouri. He completed residency training in emergency medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, N.J. He has written and edited hundreds of original health and medical articles that have been published. He is a volunteer with Florida Dachshund Rescue.  
 
“This award is a testament to our tremendous teamwork at Holy Cross,” said Dr. Cunha, who joined the non-profit hospital in 2006. “We consistently identified the needs of the local EMS providers and in the pandemic and helped them any way we could. I’m honored to get the award and extremely proud of our team at Holy Cross Health.” 
 
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. 
 


June 28, 2021 – Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute at Baptist Hospital and South Miami Hospital has received Transcatheter Valve Certification from the American College of Cardiology (ACC). The honor recognizes the expertise of the program in offering an innovative alternative to open-heart surgery for some patients who require heart valve repair or replacement. 
 
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally invasive procedure performed via a small catheter that is inserted through a blood vessel in the groin or through a small incision under the collarbone or between the ribs. It is used to treat aortic stenosis, a disease that restricts the movement of the aortic valve and causes chest pain, fatigue, shortness of breath and other life-limiting problems. Severe aortic stenosis can also lead to heart failure and sudden cardiac arrest.
 
“Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute has always been at the forefront of breakthroughs in cardiovascular care,” said Barry Katzen, M.D., founder and chief medical executive of the Institute. “This certification validates the excellence of our program, awarding us for meeting or exceeding clinical standards, patient outcomes, quality of care and other guidelines.”
 
The Institute leads numerous cardiovascular clinical trials – many of which focus on less invasive approaches – and was the first in South Florida to perform TAVR outside of a research trial. TAVR was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012 as a safer option for patients at high risk for open-heart surgery. In 2019, they expanded the approval to include patients considered at low risk for complications or death with open-heart surgery. The Institute also offers the new BASILICA treatment, which is done immediately before TAVR for a subset of patients identified as at risk for developing a coronary artery obstruction during TAVR.
 
“Certification recognizes our experience, multidisciplinary team approach, extensive training and excellent results,” said Ramon Quesada, M.D., medical director of Structural Heart and Complex Percutaneous Coronary Intervention at the Institute. “With new devices and technologies, we are able to offer minimally invasive procedures to more patients. Our community can be confident that we are a top center in the nation for these procedures.”
 
The ACC evaluation includes quality of care, clinical outcomes and patient experience, performance improvement initiatives, participation and review of data from national registries, staff credentialing and education, infection control processes and equipment safety.
 
About Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute
Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute is the largest and most comprehensive cardiovascular facility in the region. The team of multilingual, multidisciplinary specialists pioneered the development of minimally invasive techniques used to treat aneurysms, blockages in veins and arteries and holes in the heart. The Institute leverages the power of Baptist Health’s combined resources of experts, pioneering research, compassionate caregivers and leading-edge treatments and technology.
Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute is part of Baptist Health South Florida, the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 11 hospitals, more than 23,000 employees, 4,000 physicians and 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.
 


Seif Elbualy, M.D., joins Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health, as the director of interventional pain management. Dr. Elbualy specializes in interventional pain management, particularly for spine-related pain and failed back surgery syndrome. He has more than 25 years of experience utilizing medication management and interventional pain therapy.

Dr. Elbualy joins Marcus Neuroscience Institute from the Comprehensive Center for Pain Management at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, where he served as director. He is currently an affiliate assistant professor at the Charles A. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University.
 
Dr. Elbualy earned his medical degree from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He completed his anesthesiology residency at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. He then completed a pain management fellowship at Georgetown University.