Nicklaus Children’s Hospital is one of only a few pediatric hospitals in Florida, and the only one in South Florida, to offer the latest immune cell treatment for children and adolescents with certain types of leukemia.

The treatment, known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapy uses a patient’s own immune system cells to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and B cell lymphomas. The Nicklaus Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center is an approved treatment facility to deliver the FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapy to the pediatric population.
 
“CAR T-cell therapy not only provides us with a more precise treatment option for children and adolescents with advanced types of cancers, but it also brings forth the opportunity for a tailored, less invasive, and perhaps less toxic treatment option to improve the quality of life for the patients in our care,” said Dr. Jorge Galvez Silva, director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
 
The FDA-approved Kymriah, a Novartis product, is the first gene-modified therapy available in the United States for pediatric and young adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and B cell lymphomas.
 


Brian E. Keeley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Baptist Health South Florida announced his plan to retire in 2022.

Keeley began his career as an administrative resident with Baptist Hospital in 1969. After serving four years as an officer of the U.S. Navy Medical Service Corp, he was named Assistant Administrator of the hospital in 1973, Chief Operating Officer in 1979 and CEO in 1986. He oversaw Baptist Hospital’s mergers with South Miami Hospital and Homestead Hospital in 1995, subsequently becoming the President and CEO of the newly formed Baptist Health South Florida.
 
Keeley spearheaded the additional growth of the health system that now includes 11 hospitals and 100 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices spanning across Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Under his leadership, Baptist Health has become the largest and most preferred healthcare organization in the region with an operating budget of $4 billion, providing $380 million in charity care and community benefit last year.
 
With Keeley’s pending retirement, the board has unanimously selected Albert “Bo” Boulenger, current Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, to succeed Keeley. Boulenger began his career with Baptist Health in 1985 at South Miami Hospital. In 1994, he was named CEO of Homestead Hospital, and in 2006 he became CEO of Baptist Hospital. In 2018, he assumed his current role as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Baptist Health.
 


June 24, 2021 – The Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County has awarded a $26,000 grant to Tykes & Teens, a leading provider of the highest quality, evidence-based mental health services and programs for children and adolescents for 25 years. The funding will support the agency’s Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation program. Tykes & Teens is the only provider of this high-fidelity, evidence-based programming on the Treasure Coast, and the only Infant Mental Health provider in the region serving clients from newborn to age five and their families. 
 
"We greatly appreciate The Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County supporting our commitment to fostering social emotional development in early childcare settings in order to promote long-term community wellness,” says Elizabeth Appleton, Tykes & Teens’ Director of Childcare Mental Health Consultation. “This investment allows us to provide much-needed services that reduce disparities and supports a systems change resulting in long-term emotional healthiness benefits for our children, families and the community as a whole.”
 
“We have partnered with Tykes & Teens for several years on Infant Mental Health and Trauma Informed Care initiatives through funding provided by both our Children’s Service Council and the United Way of St. Lucie County,” said Tony Loupe, CEO, Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County. “We have seen the great work their specialized therapists do with children and families experiencing challenges, along with providing supports for the teachers of our childcare centers. When we were informed by Florida’s Office of Early Learning, Department of Education, of the ability to receive additional funding through the Federal Preschool Development Birth through Five Renewal Grant focusing on mental health initiatives, we immediately thought of Tykes & Teens. This funding will enhance our existing partnership commitment to our most vulnerable and youngest of children we serve while strengthening the childcare teacher and parent’s skills to support children’s healthy social emotional development.”
 
As part of its Infant Mental Health programming and services for individuals and families, Tykes & Teens collaborates with childcare centers throughout the Treasure Coast by providing Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC). The goal of IECMHC is to build the capacity of adult caregivers to strengthen and support the healthy social and emotional development of young children within the classroom setting. Through this evidence-based prevention approach, highly specialized child development therapists work with childcare center caregivers to promote social competence and addressing challenging behavior, early and before formalized intervention is needed. Through on-site Mental Health Consultation, therapists are able to create safe relationships with childcare center staff to address teacher stress, use of culturally responsive classroom practices, and the use of a trauma-informed care lens.
 
For more information on Tykes & Teens’ Infant Mental Health services, visit www.tykesandteens.org/infant-mental-health/ or call 772-220-3439. 
 
About Tykes & Teens
 
Tykes & Teens has been a leading mental health provider for children and adolescent evidence-based programs and services for 25 years. Our passion and commitment are to empowering children and strengthening families by ensuring that all children have access to high quality counseling and mental health services, regardless of financial status. Our mission is prioritizing children’s mental health in our families, schools and communities through a wide range of prevention, education, and treatment programs and services. We also advocate for increased awareness of mental health to remove the stigma and shame often associated with seeking mental health treatment. Since our inception, we have provided affordable quality mental health services for more than 60,000 children in need across the Treasure Coast from more than 50 service locations, including outpatient offices in Palm City, Jensen Beach, Hobe Sound, Port St. Lucie, and Vero Beach, on-site services in all Martin County schools, and in schools in Okeechobee and Indian River counties, as well as collaboration with numerous community partners, in addition to virtual telehealth services. We have continued to offer our services and programs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including virtual telehealth care. We accept most insurance, private payments, and we are a Medicaid-approved provider. We have successfully administered a sliding fee scale for those in need when necessary for more than 20 years. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency, we also provide $750,000 in unreimbursed services to the communities we serve each year. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. 
 


Plantation General Hospital, an HCA Healthcare facility, is pleased to announce that it has been named the most inclusive hospital in the State of Florida, according to health care think tank, the Lown Institute.

“We are honored to receive this important recognition of our history of serving patients from a wide variety of backgrounds,” said Plantation General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Madeline Nava. “Inclusivity is part of our culture and has been for decades. It is reflected in our legacy of delivering clinical excellence and high-quality care to the communities we serve.”
 
In addition to Plantation General Hospital’s top in the state ranking, the Lown Institute also ranked the facility number 15 in the nation on its list of the 50 most racially inclusive hospitals in the United States.


Stonish Pierce, FACHE
Chief Operating Officer
 
As Chief Operating Officer of Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale, Stonish Pierce oversees daily hospital operations, service line development, ensures the efficiency of patient care and manages the administration of all support and most professional services departments at the 557-bed non-profit hospital and its associated outpatient services. Board-certified as a healthcare executive with more than 22 years of experience in the industry, Stonish joined the Holy Cross team in January 2021.
 
His people-centered approach and collaborative leadership style in improving healthcare delivery is an asset to Holy Cross. A four-time recertified Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE), Stonish is also a recipient of the organization’s regional Early Career Healthcare Executive and Distinguished Service Awards. He was also recognized by his alma mater, the University of Southern California (USC), with the Price School’s 90 Pioneers of 90 Years Award. Stonish earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and a Master of Health Administration with a graduate certificate in management from USC.