April 20, 2021 – Holy Cross Health is now enrolling patients in a colorectal cancer trial (BESPOKE CRC), a prospective, multi-center trial that will enroll 1,000 or more patients at the time of surgery to measure the clinical impact of serial blood-based testing with Signatera, earlier relapse detection, and better patient risk stratification after surgery. 
 
Signatera is a personalized, tumor-informed assay optimized to detect circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) for molecular residual disease assessment and recurrence monitoring for patients previously diagnosed with cancer, with broad utility for cancer management. 
 
According to Paul Papagni, JD, Executive Director Research, at Holy Cross Health, this is a personalized test of the genetics of the tumor matched to a blood test. “We are determining through a blood test the presence or absence of tumor DNA afNA after surgery,” Papagni said.  
 
In published validation studies, Signatera detected relapse in patients with Stage II-III CRC up to 16.5 months earlier (an average 8.7 months earlier) than standard diagnostic tools including CT imaging and CEA. In May 2019, the FDA designated Signatera as a Breakthrough Device, and in September 2020, Medicare issued final Local Coverage Determination for patients diagnosed with Stage II or Stage III colorectal cancer. There are estimated to be 145,600 new CRC diagnoses per year in the U.S. and more than one million CRC survivors. 
 
This trial is one of many underway at the Michael & Dianne Bienes Comprehensive Cancer Center at Holy Cross, which offers disease-specific care in all oncology sub-specialties including medical, surgical and radiation oncology. The Cancer Center also offers research trials that span from early drug development through the later Phase 4 stages for multiple types of cancer. For more information, call the research office at 954-267-7750 or visit www.holycrosscancer.com. 
 
 
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. 
 


New stand-alone location in Orlando’s International Drive district kicks off Sanctuary’s plans to establish a statewide presence in Florida
 
April 19, 2021 – Sanctuary Medicinals Florida is pleased to announce that it has opened its first medical cannabis dispensary at 5381 International Drive in Orlando. The new stand-alone location marks the launch of Sanctuary’s plans to establish a statewide presence in Florida.
 
Sanctuary Medicinals Florida is a partnership between Dewar Nurseries of Apopka, Florida, and Sanctuary Medicinals of Littleton, Mass., which operates grow facilities and dispensaries in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. As a wholesale nursery internationally renowned for its roses, Dewar supplies a variety of floral and fruit plants to major home-improvement chains, grocery stores, and retailers across more than 20 states. The state of Florida awarded Dewar a license to cultivate, manufacture and retail medical cannabis in April 2019.
 
Jason Sidman, founder and CEO of Sanctuary Medicinals, said Florida’s growing population and vibrant economy make the Sunshine State an ideal place in which to launch a new business.
 
“We see a bright future for our business. Medical cannabis is now firmly established as a legal, licensed and regulated product in the state of Florida and the number of patients grows significantly every month. We think this is the perfect time to invest in Florida,  and we are thrilled to partner with Dewar Nurseries,” Sidman said. “We look forward to serving the patient community here, as well as helping to boost the local economy through job creation,” he added.
 
According to the state Office of Medical Marijuana Use, Florida had 533,755 patients with medical marijuana cards as of April 16.
 
Partner Bill Dewar of Dewar Nurseries said Sanctuary’s philosophy toward growing medical cannabis and producing cannabis products will set the company apart in the marketplace.
 
“Sanctuary takes a very scientific and rigorous approach toward production, which is something we have always relied upon in our own nursery business,” Dewar said. “The more you can control growing conditions, such as light, water and nutrients, the more predictability you can achieve in terms of the final product. In the end, we want Sanctuary customers to feel assured they are getting a product that is developed for them under perfect conditions.”
 
Sanctuary’s new flagship location on International Drive is centrally located in the Orlando market, making it easy to reach from all parts of Central Florida, Sidman said. He noted that Sanctuary is focused on identifying high-traffic locations.
 
“The next level in this young and growing industry is assuring patients that they will have access to this form of care,” Sidman said. “Our strategy will be to focus on stand- alone locations in highly visible marketplaces with plenty of parking and plenty of room inside each dispensary. We want our patients to feel as though their needs and their concerns are our No. 1 priority. Chief among those is making it safe and easy to get to our facility.”
 
To celebrate the opening of Sanctuary’s Orlando location, all patients will be eligible for a 30% in-store discount on April 20.
 
In addition to the International Drive location, Sanctuary has identified and secured additional locations in markets throughout the state, including Jupiter, St. Petersburg, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton and Fort Pierce, Sidman said.
 
Sanctuary will offer a comprehensive line of medical cannabis products, including flower, vapor cartridges and edibles. Quantities will be available in supplies designed to last  nine days, 30 day, 50 days and 70 days.
 
For more information about Sanctuary Medicinals Florida, please visit: https://www.sanctuarymed.com.
 
About Sanctuary Medicinals Florida
 
Sanctuary Medicinals Florida is a partnership between Littleton, Mass.-based Sanctuary Medicinals, a multistate operator of grow facilities and dispensaries in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and Apopka, FL-based Dewar Nurseries, one of the leading producers in the foliage industry. Sanctuary Medicinals Florida launched its first location in February 2021 and intends to establish a statewide network of medical cannabis dispensaries. For more information, please visit https://www.sanctuarymed.com
 
 
 


April 19, 2021 – Starting today, anyone 18 and over can sign up online to receive a COVID-19 vaccination at Lee Health by visiting https://leehealth.vaccine.mychart.com/. You do not need to be a Lee Health patient to get the vaccine. All vaccines will be administered at Gulf Coast Medical Center. 
 
After signing up, you will be notified when the vaccine is available to you and given a choice of time slots of available appointments. If Lee Health has multiple brands of COVID-19 vaccines in stock, you will be able to select which vaccine you receive. Currently, Lee Health is offering the Moderna vaccine.
 
All self-scheduling appointments must be made online, and we kindly ask you not to call our hospitals or physician offices to inquire about vaccine appointments as it overwhelms our phone system and keeps others from reaching us for their care. 
 
“As Lee County’s community-owned health system, Lee Health is pleased to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to anyone who wants one. Widespread vaccination is the best path to end the pandemic and a return to normalcy, and I encourage everyone in our community to get the vaccine as soon as possible,” Larry Antonucci, M.D., MBA, Lee Health president & CEO.  
Lee Health has been vaccinating its employees and medically vulnerable patients since December. This is the first time the health system has offered it to the general public. 
 
Per Florida guidelines, vaccine appointments are available for Florida residents only. A mask is required to enter any Lee Health facility.
After you are vaccinated, it is still necessary to wear a mask in public and keep a safe physical distance when out in public. You are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving your final dose of the vaccine. For more information on COVID-19 vaccines please visit 
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html. 
 
 
 
 
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.
 


April 19, 2021 – Florida Medical Center appoints Michael La Coste to the position of chief operating officer.  He will be responsible for overseeing all strategic, operational and clinical activities at Florida Medical Center.
 
“We are very excited to have Michael as the new chief operating officer at Florida Medical Center,” said CEO of Tenet’s Miami Dade and Broward Hospitals, Jeffrey M. Welch. “Michael has extensive knowledge of hospital service lines and will be a positive addition to Florida Medical Center.”  
 
Prior to his appointment to Florida Medical Center, La Coste was the chief operating officer at Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville, Texas and chief operating officer at Doctors Hospital of Laredo (Texas).  He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and is a former U.S. Army officer and a decorated combat veteran of Iraq and Kosovo.
La Coste earned a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Houston – Clear Lake in Houston, Texas.  He also earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
                                                                  
 
 
About Florida Medical Center – a campus of North Shore 
Florida Medical Center – a campus of North Shore is a 459-bed acute care hospital, owned and operated by Tenet Healthcare Corporation. Serving its communities since 1973, Florida Medical Center is a long-standing leader in cardiovascular care and home to The Heart Institute of Florida, a center for cardiac services and accredited Chest Pain Center with PCI.  Florida Medical Center was the first hospital in Broward County to perform open heart surgery. Florida Medical Center offers a broad range of medical and surgical services including: neurology and neurosurgery, a comprehensive orthopedics program, urology, psychiatry, gynecology, diagnostic imaging, pain center, wound care, diabetes education and 24-hour emergency services. The hospital has been granted numerous awards and was the first in South Florida to receive recognition as a Center of Excellence for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery and Robotic Surgery, as recognized by the Surgical Review Corporation. Florida Medical Center has been a recipient of the American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and is fully accredited by the Joint Commission.  For more information, resources and to follow us on social media, please visit www.FloridaMedCtr.com




Dr. Thomas Klein, left center, and Dr. Arie Dosoretz, right center, prepare to cut the ribbon celebrating the grand opening of Advocate Radiation Oncology’s new cancer treatment center in Tamarac.
 
April 16, 2021 – Advocate Radiation Oncology held an open house for South Florida physicians on April 8 to celebrate the debut of its new cancer treatment center in Tamarac.
 
Located at 7850 N. University Drive, the Tamarac center features state-of-the-art radiation oncology treatment in conjunction with the top-tier expertise and compassionate care that defines Advocate Radiation Oncology. Heading the Tamarac practice is Dr. Thomas J. Klein, who has practiced in South Florida for nearly a decade. Klein treats patients who have breast, prostate, lung, head, neck and other types of cancers.
 
Guests at the pre-sunset open house were treated to live music, hors d’oeuvres and guided tours of the facility, which offers Varian’s TrueBeam linear accelerator, a cancer-fighting machine that precisely targets and destroys tumor cells using external-beam radiation.
 
For more information, please visit AdvocateRO.com or call 754-205-0099.
About Advocate Radiation Oncology
 
Advocate Radiation Oncology is a locally owned practice with five convenient locations in southern Florida. The practice’s mission is to provide compassionate health care expertise to cancer patients. Advocate is directed by a team of world-class, board-certified radiation oncologists: Drs. Alan Brown, Arie Dosoretz, Daniel Dosoretz, Amy Fox, Graciela Garton, Michael Katin, Thomas J. Klein, Kevin R. Kozak, David Rice and James Rubenstein. For more information, please visit AdvocateRO.com.