Robert Kay, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Cleveland Clinic Florida, has announced he will retire, effective June 1.

Dr. Kay, who has served Cleveland Clinic for nearly three decades, will continue working with the Clinic’s Florida operations on a consulting basis throughout the summer. Bernardo Fernandez, M.D., Chairman of the Division of Medicine and Head, Section of Vascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Florida, will become CEO upon Dr. Kay’s retirement.

Dr. Fernandez, an internist who specializes in vascular medicine, joined Cleveland Clinic Florida in May 1991. Born in Havana, Cuba, Dr. Fernandez is a graduate of the Ponce School of Medicine in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He completed his residency at Cleveland Clinic’s main campus in Cleveland, OH.

Dr. Fernandez has published numerous articles on vascular disease and treatment and was a leading investigator for several vascular therapy trials. He is a frequent presenter and lecturer at medical symposiums throughout Florida and the Caribbean and serves as a member of the Editorial Board for the journal Periphery and a Manuscript Reviewer for the Journal of Vascular Medicine and Biology.



On Mary McGlaughlin’s first day of work as a nurse at South Miami Hospital, she and a friend missed an exit along the Palmetto Expressway, ended up near Okeechobee Road and had to call the hospital to get directions. That was 32 years ago and remains the only day in her career that McGlaughlin has reported late for work. Her dedication to punctuality and to her patients no doubt contributed to her earning the title of South Miami Hospital’s 2006 Nurse of the Year.

Mary McGlaughlin, R.N., eases a patient’s fears with humor as gastroenterologist David Sommer, M.D., prepares for an endoscopy.

Like the road she traveled on that first day, McGlaughlin’s career has taken her to unexpected places. She has worked with patients recovering from surgery, sickness and addiction. She also helped patients with orthopedic problems and spent 23 years on the hospital’s cardiac telemetry unit. Today, as a registered nurse in the hospital’s Endoscopy Center, she assists doctors with procedures such as colonoscopies and other endoscopies. Yet, she remembers her days as a bedside nurse and happily prepares patients for their procedures, assisting other nurses when they need her.



Internationally renowned colorectal surgeon Steven Wexner, M.D., chairman of Cleveland Clinic Florida’s Department of Colorectal Surgery and chief of staff of Cleveland Clinic Hospital, has been appointed president of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES).

A pioneer in laparoscopic colorectal surgery and a highly respected educator, Dr. Wexner serves as chairman of the Division of Research and Education at Cleveland Clinic Florida and 21st Century Oncology Chair in Colorectal Surgery. He holds multiple academic appointments, including professor of surgery at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Health Sciences Center of the Ohio State University; clinical professor of surgery at the University of South Florida in Tampa; clinical professor of biomedical science at Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University; honorary professor of surgery at the University of Siena, Siena, Italy; and visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel.

Dr. Wexner is a prolific researcher and author, having published more than 400 manuscripts and over 140 textbook chapters. He is also a member of 16 editorial boards and a reviewer for an additional 31 journals. In addition, he is an active member of 43 learned societies and is an honorary member of the surgical societies of six other countries.



Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (center) recently met with Dr. Alvin Haynes, Jr. (left) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Dr. Mario A. Reyes (right), Director of Pediatric Hospitalist Services at Miami Children’s Hospital during their visit to our nation’s Capital. They came to discuss the growing role that hospitalists (family physicians) are playing at both a children’s hospital and a veteran’s hospital.



North Broward Medical Center’s Marlene Roman, RN, MSN, ARNP, CMSRN, was singled in a group of more than 200 Nursing Spectrum Excellence candidates and their guests at Nursing Spectrum’s Excellence Awards in June. She was selected as the winner of the mentoring category.

Marlene encourages new hires as she orients them to the medical-surgical unit at North Broward Medical Center and supports experienced nurses climbing the clinical ladder. She is known for taking life in stride, keeping a smile on her face and never complaining. Her coworkers know they can count on her for sound advice.

As president of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, Roman started a mentoring program, Nurses Nurturing Nurses, designed to retain new nurses at facilities across the country.

Another North Broward Medical Center nurse, Tryce Cabaj, RN, ONC, the assistant nurse manager of the orthopedic/neuro/trauma unit was a finalist at the Nursing Spectrum’s Excellence Awards. Tryce is known for staying cool under pressure. Staff nurses feel comfortable coming to her with questions and view her as an expert resource. They draw on her wisdom and experience in assessing patients for suspected complications. No matter how busy the day, Cabaj always wears a smile, and staff and physicians alike enjoy working with her. She has lectured about pain management to community college nursing students and published a paper about epidural analgesia in a professional journal.