Larry A. Hobbs, M.D., was installed as the 77th President of the Lee County Medical Society at their General Membership Meeting.

Dr. Hobbs graduated from medical school at the University of Miami in 1982. He completed his internship at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and his residency at University Hospital in Jacksonville. Dr. Hobbs is a board certified emergency department physician at Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center and has served Lee County since 1985.

He is past president of the Florida College of Emergency Physicians; serves as president of the SWFL Emergency Physicians group; and is managing partner of the Urgent Care Center of SWFL with centers in both Estero and Cape Coral.

Also installed were: Craig Sweet, M.D. as President-Elect; Shahid Sultan, M.D. as Secretary; Cherrie Morris, M.D. as Treasurer and Members-at-Large: Howard Barrow, M.D.; Barry Blitz, M.D.; Stuart Bobman, M.D.; James Butler, D.O.; Valerie Dyke, M.D.; Douglas Henricks, M.D.; Stephen Laquis, M.D.; Richard Macchiaroli, M.D.; and Kenneth Towe, M.D.



Florida Medical Center announced that Dr. Mario Galdames will be joining the hospital’s geriatric department and Dr. Anthony M. Maher will be joining the hospital as a family practitioner.

Most recently, Dr. Galdames was on a geriatric medicine fellowship at the William S. Middleton VA Hospital in Madison, WI. He has also participated in the family practice residency program at the Swedish American Hospital at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and has held the position of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery at the University of El Salvador.

Dr. Maher’s most recent position was as an attending physician with Stinson Medical Center in Miami. Prior to that, he worked in private practice with Hague Medical Associates in Norfolk, VA.



Baptist Health South Florida Foundation named Patricia Mull Volunteer of the Year for Mariners Hospital. Mull, of Tavernier is a member of the Mariners Hospital Foundation Board of Directors.

In addition to her work at Mariners, Mull has been involved with various other nonprofit organizations in the Keys. She is past chairman of the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross, as well as a former president of the Upper Keys Business and Professional Women’s Club and the honorary chairperson for Catholic Charities in Monroe County.



Wellington Regional Medical Center has embarked on a new level of neonatal intensive care available to residents of Palm Beach County with the opening of its Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in January 2009. The hospital’s expansion to Level 3 services, represents a continued commitment to providing specialized care for newborns, first demonstrated with the opening of a 10-bed Level II NICU in 2002.
Given the population growth in the areas served by Wellington Regional and the increased number of deliveries at the hospital (a 35 percent increase from 2004-2007), the decision was made to expand to Level III services following a thorough review and approval by the state of Florida. The new, beautiful 15,000 square-foot 25-bed NICU is now open, providing the latest technology in an environment unsurpassed in design and comfort.



Hospital administrators, medical staff and community leaders join Wellington Regional’s CEO, Kevin DiLallo, for the NICU Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

The Centre for Family Beginnings at Wellington is now prepared to attend to some of the highest risk pregnancies and sickest and tiniest of babies. A Level III NICU cares for the widest range of newborn conditions, from the most unstable to those born with the lowest birth weights. In addition to respiratory and infectious conditions commonly seen in a neonatal unit, Level III nurseries also attend to specialized surgical, cardiac and neurological conditions.



The Health Care District of Palm Beach County has named Brian P. Gibbons, CHE, Hospital Administrator for Glades General Hospital in Belle Glade. In addition, Gibbons will become Administrator of Lakeside Medical Center, the $73 million regional hospital that the Health Care District is currently constructing.

Prior to joining the District, Gibbons was Chief Operating Officer of the Sebastian River Medical Center. From 2003 to 2007 he held executive-level positions at Eastern New Mexico Medical Center in Roswell, NM and Alta Vista Regional Hospital in Las Vegas, NM. Earlier he worked in a variety of administrative positions at Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Treasure Coast Rehabilitation Hospital in Vero Beach, and Cape Canaveral Hospital.