Mark E. Robitaille, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Martin Memorial since 1991, has played a key role in the health system’s growth over the past two decades. This fall, that role will become even more significant.

The Martin Memorial Health Systems Board of Directors announced that Robitaille will take the reins as president and chief executive officer of the health system. He will replace Richmond M. Harman, who is retiring after serving as president and CEO since 1989.

Robitaille began his career at Martin Memorial in 1976 as an assistant administrator responsible for corporate planning, as well as design and construction management of new facilities. He left in December 1981 for the West Orange Memorial Hospital Tax District in Winter Garden, FL, where he served as chief executive officer, before joining a national investment banking firm based in Orlando and provided investment services for healthcare organizations.



Nicholas Tranakas, M.D., medical director of Cancer Services for Broward Health, received the Cancer Liaison Physician Outstanding Performance Award for Broward General Medical Center (BGMC) from the Commission on Cancer (CoC).

Tranakas was selected for demonstrating outstanding leadership and guidance as a physician campaigner for the Comprehensive Cancer Center at BGMC. He also exhibited qualities that the CoC’s Approvals Program considers to be critical to the facilities’ success and for providing superior cancer care.

Dr. Tranakas is a clinical assistant professor of surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine and serves as a consultant in surgery for the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Miami. He is the current president of the Broward County Division of the American Cancer Society and serves on the executive board of Gilda’s Club of South Florida.



Adams Property Consultants, Inc. announced the leasing of over 15,000 square feet at Aventura Heart & Health, a 100,000 square foot medical office building located on the Aventura Hospital campus at 21097 NE 27th Court. New tenants leasing space at the Class A property include Interventional Pain Physicians of South Florida, P.A., Martin B. Grossman M.D., P.A., and Beth and Howard Braver M.D., P.A. Additionally, Advanced Heart Care of Florida, the practice of Anita Jones M.D., P.A. and H. Marcelo Vassolo M.D., leased space at the building.

Adams Property Consultants also announced two new tenants at University Medical Center located at 7710 NW 71st Court in Tamarac. George Lustig M.D., P.A. and William Dorfman, Ph.D. leased a total of 2,000 square feet at the 40,000 square foot building adjacent to the University Hospital campus.



Lisa Fisher has joined Columbia Hospital as Director of Education. She graduated from Palm Beach Community College with an A.S. Degree in Nursing and earned her B.S. degree in Nursing from Barry University.

Prior to joining Columbia Hospital, she worked at Good Samaritan Medical Center since 1987 in a variety of nurse managements positions including Director of Staff Development and Director of the Newbern Telemetry unit.



Westside Regional Medical Center announces the implantation of the first wireless implantable electrocardiogram (ECG) Monitoring System in South Florida performed by Dr. David Kenigsberg, a Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiologist on staff at Westside Regional Medical Center. Dr. Kenigsberg was previously an electrophysiology fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and trained under Drs. Kenneth Ellenbogen and Mark Wood, two pioneers in the field of Invasive Electrophysiology and authors of the premier texts in the field of implantable devices and cardiac ablations.

The Sleuth Implantable ECG Monitoring System offers an accurate, efficient way to monitor a patient’s heart rate and rhythm, and provide electrocardiogram data to physicians in a timely manner. With this remote wireless system the heart is monitored remotely, ECG data is recorded when events occur, data are sent automatically to a 24/7 monitoring center to be reviewed by certified cardiac technicians, and physicians, like Dr. Kenigsberg, will be notified of cardiac events quickly to enable fast diagnosis and deliver appropriate therapy. Cardiac arrhythmias, or disturbances in the beating of the heart, can be serious and are often the root cause of syncope – a medical term for fainting. Patients with syncope are vulnerable to falls, injuries and negative personal consequences such as suspension of driving privileges or limited employment opportunities. An accurate diagnosis is important for prompt and appropriate treatment.

The Sleuth Implantable ECG Monitoring System, a thin medical device about the size of a 50-cent piece (or the size of the smallest pacemakers), is placed under the skin near the shoulder. The device continuously gathers ECG data, and then automatically and regularly forwards it to a monitoring center operated by Mednet Healthcare Technologies, Inc. There, certified cardiac technicians review the patient’s ECG information and send reports of relevant cardiac event data to the physician. Significant advantages for patients and physicians stem from the fact that the Sleuth ECG System is totally wireless, and technicians at the Transoma Medical, Inc. monitoring center automatically receive patient data thereby allowing them to frequently review the information for irregularities instantaneously.