June 1, 2021 — Gastro Health, a national leading medical group specializing in digestive and liver health, is expanding its presence to ten locations in Northern Virginia through a partnership with  two additional gastroenterology practices, Gastroenterology & Hepatology Associates, P.C. (GHA) and Hong Gastroenterology, effective June 1, 2021.
 
This partnership also includes a majority ownership in the state-of-the-art endoscopy center, Northern Virginia Center for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy; as well as an in-office endoscopy center, The Endoscopy Center, PLLC – which has the highest level of recognition provided by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, Inc. – bringing the total number of Gastro Health endoscopy centers to six in the Northern Virginia market. 
 
“We are pleased to continue to add quality GI care options in Northern Virginia through the addition of GHA and Hong Gastroenterology,” said Gastro Health CEO Joseph Garcia. “This partnership will strengthen the providers ability to provide high-quality care, ultimately benefitting patients in the community at large.”
 
Gastroenterology & Hepatology Associates, located in Alexandria, VA, was founded in 1989 and consists of two board-certified gastroenterologists, Suresh Malhotra, M.D., FACP, AGAF, and Ronald Barkin, M.D. 
 
“This announcement is an exciting chapter for GHA as we join an industry leader, Gastro Health, with a shared passion for innovation and patient care,” said Dr. Malhotra, who has also served as chairman of the Gastroenterology Department at Inova Alexandria Hospital and clinical assistant professor of Medicine at Georgetown University. “Together, we look forward to delivering solutions that improve patient outcomes.” 
 
Hong Gastroenterology, located in Annandale, VA, has been serving Northern Virginia and the surrounding communities since 1996, specializing in the evaluation and management of a variety of gastrointestinal disorders and conditions.  
 
“I am looking forward to this transformative partnership with Gastro Health,” said Mu K. Hong, M.D., who previously participated in cancer research with the NIH’s National Cancer Institute. “This relationship will help us build upon our infrastructure to support our operations so that our staff can dedicate more time to our patients.” 
 
This latest acquisition by Gastro Health marks the continuation of a rapid growth and expansion period through a series of mergers and acquisitions within the single-specialty gastroenterology sector over the last two years. Gastro Health supports practices in Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and Maryland with over 100 locations consisting of medical office practices, infusion centers, imaging services and a specialty pharmacy. Additionally, Gastro Health owns and operates endoscopy centers in five of the six states.
 
 
About Gastro Health
Gastro Health is one of the leading gastroenterology platforms in the United States supporting practices in Alabama, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington. Gastro Health strives to provide outstanding medical care and an exceptional healthcare experience. The Gastro Health care teams utilize technology, clinical expertise, and compassionate care to provide a personalized approach to digestive health and overall wellness. Learn more at GastroHealth.com.
 


June 1, 2021 – Beginning Wednesday, June 2, Golisano Children’s Hospital’s new Mobile Pediatric Vaccination Clinic will be traveling to schools in Lee County. 
 
The mobile unit will be set up at schools through the summer in case parents would like to get their children vaccinated at those locations. Receiving the vaccine is completely optional.
 
The Mobile Pediatric Vaccination Clinic is tailored especially for children. It’s staffed with a pediatric registered nurse to administer the vaccine. A special Pain Ease spray is on-hand to put on the injection site to alleviate any discomfort or fear of needles that kids sometimes have. Also, the mobile vaccination unit has a pharmacist, EMT or paramedic, and customer service team to assist in the process.
There is no cost for the COVID-19 vaccine.  
 
The first school stop will be at Three Oaks Middle School for students and their older siblings. The clinics at Three Oaks will take place on Wednesday, June 2, Thursday, June 3, and Friday, June 4 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. A parent or authorized guardian must accompany a minor for vaccination. After receiving the vaccine, students will be required to wait in the vaccination area for 15 minutes to be monitored for any adverse reactions.
The second dose will be scheduled during this appointment.
 
The Mobile Pediatric Vaccination Clinic is walk-up only. Additional school stops will be announced at a later date.
Anyone 12 years old and older can receive their COVID-19 vaccine at no cost at Lee Health’s Community Vaccination Clinic, which is at Gulf Coast Medical Center. For more information, 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.
 


June 2, 2021 – For the past five years, Hansel Tookes, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has focused on developing community-based engagement in care interventions for persons living with HIV/AIDS and people who inject drugs (PWID).
 
Now, Dr. Tookes has an opportunity to build a new model of care for this marginalized community after receiving a very prestigious Avenir Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The $2.3 million, four-year Avenir Award will support his innovative research project, “Tele-Harm Reduction for Rapid Initiation of Antiretrovirals in People Who Inject Drugs: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” 
 
“Our school is a national leader in community research and clinical care thanks to forward-thinking faculty members like Dr. Tookes,” said Henri R. Ford, M.D., M.H.A., dean and chief academic officer. “This is a very important study that could lead to a new model for delivering vital care to difficult-to-reach, marginalized populations.”
 
Dr. Tookes  said this intervention will leverage telehealth technology, as well as the trust the Miller School IDEA syringe services program (SSP) has built in the community. He added that leveraging the current SSP framework has great promise as an adaptable and transformative model for bringing HIV care out of a traditional healthcare clinic, as well as sustaining viral suppression among people who inject drugs living with HIV, increasing use of medications for opioid use disorder and curing patients with hepatitis C virus.
 
“This NIH-funded randomized study, which will involve sites in Tampa as well as Miami, could change the standard of care for people who inject drugs,” said Dr. Tookes. “That would improve health outcomes for this disadvantaged population and reduce health inequities in our communities.” The intervention is rooted in harm reduction, a philosophy that respects the autonomy of PWID and prioritizes meeting them where they are. “Tele-harm reduction uses peers with lived experience to overcome the digital divide by bringing technology directly to people, with the goal to foster engagement in care,” he added.
 
Dr. Tookes said the Tele-Harm Reduction intervention employs SSPs to deliver telehealth-enhanced access to a physician, psychologist, on-site phlebotomy, medication storage and delivery, as well as harm reduction counseling. “This is a concierge program with three physicians on call with rotating schedules to respond to our patients, who might engage with us from their homes, the SSP or our mobile unit, or on street outreach,” he said. “In any case, we can stay connected to them regardless of location.” 
 
This intervention is built upon a foundation of formative work Dr. Tookes conducted under “Ending the HIV Epidemic” grants through the Miller School’s NIH-funded Center for AIDS Research and NIH-funded CHARM Center. Dr. Tookes piloted the program last year, beginning in February before the COVID-19 pandemic led to wider national adoption of telehealth programs. “We were able to achieve viral suppression in 80 percent of patients who participated, so we knew this could be an efficacious approach,” he said. “Now, this is truly the right study at the right time.”
 
For Dr. Tookes, the award marks another accomplishment in his career as a clinician, researcher and advocate for individuals facing the multiple stigmas of HIV/AIDS, substance use disorders, and other comorbidities. In 2016, he founded the first legal SSP in Florida with the goal of increasing access to the tools necessary to improve health among the state’s most vulnerable residents. He began his career in harm reduction in the Sociomedical Sciences Research Group at the Miller School with his mentor, Lisa Metsch, Ph.D., now dean of the Columbia School of General Studies and professor at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. Dr. Metsch and Dan Feaster, Ph.D., professor of public health sciences at the Miller School, will serve as primary mentors for the Avenir project.
 
“As a Black physician, my push to improve health outcomes in underrepresented communities has been rooted in racial justice,” said Dr. Tookes. “Viral suppression in this high-incidence group is urgently needed, particularly in South Florida, an epicenter of substance use and HIV.”
 
NIDA’s Avenir Awards provide grants to early-stage investigators who propose highly innovative studies. “Avenir” is the French word for “future,” and these awards represent NIDA’s commitment to supporting researchers who represent the future of addiction science.
 


June 1 2021 – Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired has announced that it is accepting philanthropic donations of cryptocurrency, recognizing the growing popularity of this form of investment and its tax advantages to contributors. Miami Lighthouse makes this announcement on the heels of Bitcoin 2021, the largest Bitcoin event in history, taking place from June 4-5 for the first time in Miami.
 
“Cryptocurrency is an established, popular transactional vehicle, classified by the Internal Revenue Service as an intangible personal property, like stocks and bonds,” said Miami Lighthouse President and CEO Virginia Jacko. “This designation makes donations of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other accepted cryptocurrencies appealing options for some donors and welcome opportunities for not-for-profit organizations like ours.”
 
For nearly a century, Miami Lighthouse has been working to build a more inclusive society for the blind and visually impaired. With innovative programming that removes barriers to education, jobs and critical eye care and unlocks the power of the internet and technology. Program offerings reflect the diversity of the communities Miami Lighthouse serves and their unique needs. Approximately 90% of the constituents served are low income from underserved populations.  
 
“As Mayor of Miami we want to be on the next wave of innovation and it is very special that one of Miami’s oldest charities has adopted one of the world’s newest technologies to further its mission and serve the blind and visually impaired” said City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
 
Miami Lighthouse has established a relationship with Coinbase, a publicly traded crypto exchange, to process crypto philanthropic gifts, making donations of established digital currencies easy to transact. Each cryptocurrency contribution is converted by Coinbase into its cash value at the time of donation. To make a cryptocurrency donation to Miami Lighthouse visit this link 
 
 
 
Miami Lighthouse annually transforms the lives of 90,000 blind and visually impaired people, babies to seniors, and their families and is located at 601 Southwest 8th Avenue. For more information about Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, visit www.MiamiLighthouse.org. 
 


Drs. Maizes and Bakst are the Only Physicians in Palm Beach County Managing the New Inspire Sleep Technology 
 
June 1 2021 – As reported from Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Disorders Institute of South Florida (PCSI) only FDA approved minimally invasive sleep apnea treatment, that eliminates the need for masks and traditional cumbersome sleep equipment, is now available in South Florida; and it’s only being managed in Palm Beach County by the doctors from Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Disorders Institute of South Florida (PCSI).
 
The physician group are no strangers to pioneering new medical technology and practices. They were the first in Florida to utilize Spire Health Tags for remote patient monitoring and the first trained in South Florida on the revolutionary Monarch Robot technology used to biopsy lung nodules previously deemed inaccessible by dated equipment. Now Dr. Bakst and Dr. Maizes, sleep experts within the group, completed the training necessary to manage the care for patients who qualify for this new technology, making them the only sleep physicians in Palm Beach County currently offering this innovation in sleep disorder management.
 
According to the American Sleep Apnea Association (ASAA), nearly 22 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea and complain of symptoms consisting of excessive daytime sleepiness, loud snoring, episodes of stopped breathing during sleep, dry mouth, headache, and abrupt awakening accompanied by episodes of stopped breathing during sleep. The widely used current treatment option, the continuous positive airway pressure machine (CPAP) machine, includes a shoebox size pump, hoses, a mask and is met with its own set of complaints.  
 
“The CPAP does take some time for our patients to get used to. Some of the common complaints we hear are dry mouth, noisy equipment, feeling claustrophobic, unintentional removal of the mask while sleeping, and difficulty sleeping. We can usually help mitigate some of the discomfort through proper sizing, teaching, and adjustments but there are some patients who still find it intolerable,” said Dr. Alan Bakst. 
 
The new technology, Inspire, offers patients an alternative to conventional external equipment.
“A great night’s sleep is as incredibly important as exercising and healthy eating habits. By being able to offer our patients this new technology we hope to increase compliance with sleep apnea treatments. By improving an individual’s sleep quality, you are improving their quality of life,” said Dr. Jay Maizes, who is also the Director of the Sleep Lab at JFK Medical Center.
  
The small device, surgically implanted by way of two small incisions, sits just below the chest wall, and works inside of the body with the natural breathing cycle by delivering mild stimulation to key airway muscles allowing the airway to remain open while sleeping. The outpatient procedure is done at North Broward Medical Center, and can be managed in Palm Beach County by Dr. Bakst or Dr. Maizes. 
Thirty days after the procedure the patient is seen at either PCSI location. During the visit the patient will receive thorough training on the complete use of Inspire and upon complete understanding Dr. Bakst or Dr. Mazies will activate the device. If additional training or evaluation is required, the patient will be monitored at an overnight stay in the Sleep lab at JFK Medical Center. Patients only need to be seen every 6 to 12 months after activation to check on the progress and functionality of the Inspire device and remote. 
To learn more, or to schedule an appointment at either of their Wellington or Atlantis offices, please visit www.pscisfl.com or call (561) 967-4118.
 
 
 
Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Disorders Institute of South Florida is the largest integrated pulmonary, chest and sleep specialty group in Palm Beach County. Learn more about PCSI at pcsifl.com