Kendall Regional Medical Center’s CEO, Victor J. Maya, was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the State of Florida Correctional Medical Authority. The Authority was created by the Florida Legislature in 1986 and serves as an independent body that monitors and evaluates the systems that provide health care to inmates throughout the state. The Authority regularly provides recommendations to improve the management and delivery of health services.

Victor J. Maya has over 25 years of experience in the field of health management. A native of Cuba, he came to the U.S. in 1962 and enrolled in City College of New York, where he earned a Bachelors degree in Business Administration. He later earned a Master of Science degree in Health Administration from Nova University. In 1985, he became the Chief Financial Officer at Kendall Regional and was promoted to his current position of Chief Executive Officer in 1987. Maya is also active in the American Hospital Association, the Healthcare Financial Management Association, and the American College of Healthcare Executives.



The Women Healthcare Executive Network (WHEN) of South Florida’s advisory group held its initial meeting for its “Advancing Leadership Roles for Women in Healthcare” mentoring program on January 10 at Parkway Regional Medical Center.

(l-r) Barbara Ann Perez, President-Elect, Director of Imaging and Therapeutic Services for Jackson Memorial Hospital; Byung Park, Recording Secretary, Liver/GI Transplant Coordinator, UM/Jackson; Rene Stanford, Treasurer, Grants Management Associate with UM’s Center on Aging; Dr. Nancy Borkowski, President, Associate Professor at St. Thomas University; Wilma Torres, 2004 Past President, Vice President, Coleman Consulting Group; Michelle Foris-Marsh, WHEN member, Director of Marketing and Business Development, Plantation General Hospital and Westside Regional Medical Center; Alex Johnson, 2003 Past President, Vice President, Coleman Consulting Group

The WHEN advisory group’s membership represents over 90 senior female executives from most of South Florida’s hospitals, health systems, outpatient facilities, long-term care facilities, managed care organizations, and universities who wish to assist other women by either being a mentor or by helping the mentee in locating an appropriate mentor.

Members of Mentoring Program’s Advisory Group (l-r) Dr. Gloria Deckard, Coordinator of Health Administration Programs, FIU; Sheri Ivey, Director of Utilization Management, Humana; Urmala Roopnarinesingh, Director of Marketing and Development, Barry University’s School of Nursing

Dr. Nancy Borkowski, President of WHEN and associate professor at St. Thomas University, relates that, “women accounted for only 14 to 19 percent of the top management positions in healthcare organizations nationwide based on recent surveys by the American Hospital Association and Catalyst Inc. WHEN’s goal for 2006 is to establish a multi-disciplinary, community based mentoring program in order to best meet the diverse needs of South Florida’s female undergraduate and graduate health management students, early careerist, and other female healthcare professionals in attaining their career goals.

WHEN’s long-term goal is to design activities that foster supportive relationships among women to meet the needs of the participants, such as, one-on-one mentoring, small group mentoring, and large group activities.”



The Florida International University School of Nursing (FIU SoN) has received an $820,000 grant from the Health Foundation of South Florida (HFSF) to support the School’s Grow Our Own Nursing Faculty project. Developed in collaboration with the nursing schools at Miami-Dade College (MDC) and Broward Community College (BCC), the Grow program will help produce nursing faculty to fill teaching vacancies at both community colleges by recruiting and financially supporting experienced nurses who enter into the FIU SoN’s Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program nurse education track.

“This generous donation from the Health Foundation of South Florida will enable each of our institutions to achieve a common goal in the fight against the nursing shortage,” said Divina Grossman, PhD, RN, ARNP, FAAN, Dean of the FIU School of Nursing. “Through Grow Our Own Nursing Faculty, we will be able to increase the number of nursing educators in the region, which in turn will help to grow the pipeline of future nurses in South Florida,” she continued.

(l-r) Paula Delpech, Director of Admissions & Student Services – FIU School of Nursing; Dr. Debbie Papa, Dean of Health Sciences – BCC; Dr. Divina Grossman, Dean – FIU School of Nursing; Dr. Mary Kontz, Director – School of Nursing, MDC.

Set to launch in the spring semester of 2006, Grow Our Own Nursing Faculty was developed by the FIU, MDC and BCC nursing schools in direct response to a critical nursing faculty shortage, which is exacerbating the nursing workforce shortage. Grossman explained, “To ensure proper clinical instruction at the college level, state guidelines for nursing education institutions limit the student-to-faculty ratio at a maximum of 12:1. In order for an institution to increase student admissions, which would translate into an increased nursing workforce, it must first increase its number of nursing faculty.”

The Health Foundation of South Florida’s $820,000 award will be used to facilitate the graduation of ten master’s level nursing students to complete the SoN’s Master of Nursing Science Nurse Education Track. Candidates for the program must be Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) graduates from FIU or other South Florida nursing schools in the last 10 years who are experienced nurses and are interested in becoming nursing faculty.

The HFSF donation will provide ten full-time students in the program with complete scholarships (covering tuition and educational costs). In exchange for their free graduate education, these students will enter into a minimum two-year work commitment to join the nursing faculty at either Miami Dade College or Broward Community College. As a result, both the MDC and BCC will play an integral role in selecting the candidates for the Grow program, as ultimately these graduates will become faculty at their nursing schools.



The appointment of Nelson Lazo as chief executive officer of Mariners Hospital, Tavernier, was recently announced by Brian E. Keeley, president and CEO of Baptist Health South Florida.

Prior to joining Mariners, Lazo was chief operating officer at Parkway Regional Medical Center in North Miami Beach. A native of South Florida, Lazo started his career as a respiratory therapist at Mercy Hospital in Miami. During his healthcare career, Lazo has served as director of cardiopulmonary services at Mercy Hospital; a consultant with Coker Group, a healthcare consulting firm; CEO for HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Miami in Cutler Ridge; and senior vice president and chief operating officer of MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, Illinois.

Lazo earned his bachelor’s degree in business management from Barry University in Miami Shores and his MBA, with a minor in human resource management, from Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale. He is also a registered respiratory therapist and holds an associate degree in respiratory therapy technology.



Ronaldo Montmann, director of technical services for the North Broward Hospital District, and active ordained minister, has been awarded the 2006 “Up and Comers” Award in the Technology category from the South Florida Business Journal. The awards recognize the next generation of leaders under the age of 40 in South Florida for their professional achievements and community involvement.

At the District, Montmann is responsible for a team of 67 staff members who provide direction and support to more than 6,000 computer users in the metropolitan area network.

Montmann joined the hospital district seven years ago as a systems analyst after holding consulting positions with various Fortune 500 companies. He started his career at age 16 in Brazil as a technical support analyst for Microsoft’s distributor in South America.