Carlos M. Cordero Jr., RN, MSN

Carlos M. Cordero Jr., RN, MSN, is the Director of Surgical Services at Hialeah Hospital. His career in nursing has translated into 11 years of healthcare experience that has taken him through a variety of specialty departments and leading to his passion with the surgical services department. Carlos is responsible for the daily operations of the Pre-Admissions Testing department (PAT), Sterile Processing, Pre-Operative department, Post-Operative Care Unit (PACU), and Gastroenterology department (GI). He currently manages 63 FTE’s and a variety of specialties procedures with the help of his Nurse Manager and Assistant Nurse Managers, ensuring the careful coordination of all surgical procedures. Carlos is a member of the Association of Peri-Operative Registered Nurses (AORN) and the American Nurses Association (ANA).
 
Carlos earned his nursing degree at Miami Dade Medical College and a Master’s in Nursing Science with a concentration in Leadership and Management from Florida National University. At the start of the COVID pandemic Carlos had just transferred from another Tenet facility and had just started working at Hialeah Hospital , during this time he flexed all his nursing personnel to other units to help assist with patient care as well as converting his PACU department into a Mini-ICU to help care for higher acuity patients.
 
Sinai Penalver, RN, BSN
 
Sinai Penalver, RN, BSN, has been a nurse at Hialeah Hospital since 2008. Sinai progressed to the leadership role in 2018, as the Director of the Medical Surgical unit, which has the highest volume of inpatients at Hialeah Hospital. In addition, she took over the directorship for telemetry unit in 2020. She effectively managed the two-inpatient units during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Sinai was responsible for ongoing staff training and mentoring, in addition to keeping up with acute changes in patient volume due to COVID 19. She demonstrated excellent leadership skills in keeping the staff morale high and in ensuring that staff follow appropriate infection control practices, as per the facility approved COVID 19 guidelines. Sinai strives to maintain highest standards of quality and patient safety in serving our patients and community.
 
 


Opened in late 2019, the De George Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) will soon see a program expansion so that Jupiter Medical Center, in partnership with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, can care for smaller, more vulnerable newborns. Thanks to a generous $1 million gift from The Frank DiMino Family Foundation, Jupiter Medical Center will bolster its programs to care for babies as small as 2.2 pounds.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support from the Frank DiMino Family Foundation,” said Dr. Amit Rastogi, president and CEO of Jupiter Medical Center. “Their generous gift enables us to increase the acuity of care for premature newborns and will change lives in our community.”
 
Over the past decade, Jupiter Medical Center, in collaboration with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, has invested heavily in expanding its NICU. The Frank DiMino Family Foundation’s contribution allows the hospital to build out additional, postpartum and antepartum space. The gift also paves the way for increasing subspecialty coverage, and allows Jupiter Medical Center to add a nurse educator to offer nurses PICC certification and to provide support staff with special training. Additionally, the hospital will use the funds to hire an in-house laborist to assist mothers in emergencies when their OB/GYN is enroute to the hospital.
 
“We are honored to work with Jupiter Medical Center to give newborns and their families access to the best possible care close to home,” said Frank DiMino. These funds will go directly toward providing more life-changing programs and services to support those in need, and ensure they receive quality health care.


April 27, 2021 – Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital has earned the Gold Seal of Approval® for Spinal Surgery Certification from The Joint Commission, the  nation’s premier independent accreditation organization. The Gold Seal reflects commitment to the highest standards of excellence and safety in patient care.
 
Only 101 hospitals across the country have received the elite Gold Seal of Approval® for Spine Surgery from The Joint Commission. Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Marcus Neuroscience Institute will now become only one of two in the South Florida region.
 
“We are very proud to be recognized for our efforts to bring the very best spine care to our patients,” says neurosurgeon Frank Vrionis, M.D., director of Marcus Neuroscience Institute. “Earning this certification involved a rigorous process that required collaboration between many disciplines and our spine surgery team. We have been working tirelessly to make sure we meet the very stringent requirements.”
 
Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health South Florida, is an innovative nexus for neurologic and neurosurgical care. The facility, which is undergoing expansion, houses four dedicated operating rooms — including one equipped with intraoperative MRI and two with intraoperative CT capability.
 
A key part of the Institute, the Phillip & Peggy DeZwirek Center for Spinal Disorders & Back Pain includes an experienced team of spine-care specialists to provide patients with the most sophisticated treatment options available. Its physicians perform more than 1,500 procedures annually, using the latest surgical techniques. The Center’s multidisciplinary approach includes pain management, neuro and ortho-spine surgery, and physical therapy. Many of the physicians at Marcus Neuroscience Institute have been academic leaders in spine surgery, established spine fellowship programs, practice guidelines, founded biomechanical research and ran national clinical studies that established standards of care.
 
To earn Joint Commission certification, Marcus Neuroscience Institute underwent a rigorous review process. A team of Joint Commission experts evaluated the Institute’s compliance with certification standards that address the various domains related to spine surgery such as program structure, delivery of care, care coordination, and performance measures. The reviewers also conducted observations and interviews.
 
“As always, Boca Raton Regional Hospital is leading the way by delivering the highest quality patient care with unrelenting attention to clinical excellence, patient satisfaction and patient safety,” says Lincoln Mendez, Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s CEO. “Our goal in all areas is the highest level of precision medicine.”
 
Among other things, the certification evaluates how organizations use clinical outcomes and performance measures to identify opportunities to further improve care, as well as to educate and prepare patients and their caregivers for discharge.
 
Seeking certification helps strengthen the structure and management of medical programs for the benefit of patients, says Mark Pelletier, R.N., The Joint Commission’s CEO for accreditation and certification operations. “Certification recognizes health care organizations committed to fostering continuous quality improvement,” Mr. Pelletier says. “We commend Marcus Neuroscience Institute.”
 
The Institute was made possible by a lead gift and continuing support from Bernie and Billi Marcus and The Marcus Foundation. “Saving and changing the lives of individuals with neurological disease or impairment has always been an important philanthropic focus for us,” explains Bernie Marcus. “We want the Marcus Neuroscience Institute to stay at the forefront of patient care with unparalleled clinical and research services.”
 
 
 
About Boca Raton Regional Hospital
Boca Raton Regional 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. 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.
 
 
Boca Raton Regional Hospital is supported by philanthropy to strengthen its mission to deliver the highest quality patient care, satisfaction and safety. If you would like to learn more about supporting the mission of Boca Raton Regional Hospital, visit our website at donate.brrh.com.
 
For more information, visit BRRH.com and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
 


To more effectively treat emerging variants of COVID-19, and in accordance with NIH guidelines, Broward Health has revised its monoclonal antibody therapy and has started using a combination of bamlanivimab and etesevimab, which has been approved by the FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). This new combination has shown promising results over the single agent bamlanivimab, which was previously used solely, at addressing COVID-19 infection due to some variants.

“Broward Health continues to explore the most effective treatments for our patients as the COVID-19 virus mutates,” said Joshua Lenchus, D.O., chief medical officer, Broward Health Medical Center. “Monoclonal antibodies have proven effective in preventing COVID-positive patients from getting very sick and requiring hospitalization. But now, as we see the increase in COVID variants affecting our community, we must modify our therapies to ensure the best possible outcomes for our patients.”
 
Administered together as a diluted intravenous infusion, this new combination can be used for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing. Patients must be 12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg and be at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization. Monoclonal antibody therapy is available in the outpatient setting.
 
 


Good Samaritan Medical Center announced that Rebecca Washam, R.N., has been honored by Tenet Healthcare as part of its annual recognition program. Washam, has been named a “Tenet Hero” and also inducted into the Tenet Heroes’ Hall of Fame for her incredible contributions in 2020.

Washam was recognized as a Tenet Hero and Hall of Fame winner for not only bringing in items of clothing for homeless patients, and arranging for their personal needs outside the facility, but in addition, Washam, chaired the 2020 Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night. While only held virtually, Washam worked tirelessly to host events, spread the word, and enlisted family and friends to make masks, and to raise more money for the event, even though the pandemic caused multiple challenges to raise funds for the year.