Lee Health announced several promotions within the organization to allow for more integration of clinical operations and improve collaboration across the system.

In dyad leadership with Dr. Eric Appelgren, Darcy Allen, RN, BSN, MBA, has moved from Lee Memorial Hospital to HealthPark Medical Center to serve as the Vice President of Operations/Chief Nurse Executive, a position she has held at Lee Memorial Hospital since 2019. With nearly 20 years of experience, Allen has held various leadership positions at large health systems including Inova Medical Center in Fairfax, VA and Kaiser Permanente in California.
 
Alyssa Bostwick, MSN, MBA, RN, CPN, has been promoted to the role of Vice President of Operations and Chief Nurse Executive for Golisano Children’s Services. Most recently, Bostwick served as the Program Development Coordinator.
 
Julia Liebscher, MS, BSN, RNC, has been promoted to Vice President of Operations/Chief Nurse Executive at Lee Memorial Hospital. Most recently, Liebscher served as System Director of Integration and Planning. Prior to that, she was the Interim VP/CNE at Gulf Coast Medical Center. 


Board-certified vascular surgeon Eileen de Grandis, M.D., RPVI, FACS, has joined BocaCare | Vascular Surgery, a part of Baptist Health South Florida.

Dr. de Grandis joins BocaCare from Bayfront Health Port Charlotte and Bayfront Health Punta Gorda, where she was a lead vascular surgeon.
 
Dr. de Grandis earned her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her medical degree from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia. She completed a general surgery residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and a vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota.


The Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute (LCI) at Boca Raton Regional Hospital is the first institution in Palm Beach County to treat cancer patients using the Radixact® System. The Radixact System is an innovative, non-invasive treatment option developed to deliver image-guided intensity-modulated (IG-IMRT) radiation therapy, an extremely precise form of radiation therapy.

While other radiation treatment devices are sometimes limited in their application, the Radixact System is capable of optimally treating virtually any radiation therapy indication, including breast, lung, prostate and head and neck cancers. The Radixact system is particularly adept at delivering elegant treatment plans for the most complex treatments, including complex breast cancer cases, head and neck cancer cases, and cranial spinal irradiation. In addition to being one of the most precise radiation delivery systems, treatment times are among the shortest.
 
The system provides continuous delivery of radiation from 360 degrees around the patient, which increases the control doctors have in getting radiation where it needs to be and helps to decrease the damage to surrounding healthy tissue and organs to help improve patient outcomes. Sophisticated
imaging technology is built into the way the Radixact treatment is delivered, giving physicians the ability to clearly see the shape and location of the patient’s tumor — anywhere in the body — in real time before each treatment session. In addition, SYNCHRONY software technology allows precise tumor tracking to account for even the slightest tumor motion.


Delray Medical Center announces the appointment of Dr. Mahdi Taha, D.O., FACOI, FACP, to the position of medical director of medical oncology at the hospital.

Prior to joining Delray Medical Center, Dr. Taha worked for Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) in Newman, Georgia, as the lead medical oncologist for head and neck, genitourinary, melanoma and salivary gland carcinomas. He also served as CTCA’s vice president of quality chairman. Before his time at CTCA, Dr. Taha was an adjunct professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Taha completed an observership in genitourinary oncology, and head and neck thoracic oncology at MD Andersen.
 
Dr. Taha earned his medical degree from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. After completing his residency in internal medicine at the Oklahoma State University Medical Center in Tulsa, OK, he was awarded a fellowship at Cancer Treatment Centers of America through Oklahoma State University where he was named medical oncology chief fellow. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Kean University, in Union, NJ where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.
 


Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing has launched a new “Dermatology Nurse Practitioner Post-graduate Certificate Program,” to provide nurse practitioners with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed for specialization in general dermatology to care for patients across the life span. Nurse practitioners are licensed, independent clinicians who are focused on managing people’s health conditions and preventing disease.

“Our new certificate program will prepare masters and doctoral nurse practitioners to acquire foundational core competencies in their population-focus areas,” said Susan Bulfin, DNP, ARNP, FNP-BC, program director, a professor and doctor of nursing practice (DNP) director of the practice teaching track in FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. “Most often, nurse practitioner educational preparation includes little dermatology education and training. Therefore, nurse practitioners who desire to specialize in dermatology are left to develop competencies through on-the-job training or in a rare fellowship program.”
 
Nurse practitioners who complete the FAU Dermatology Nurse Practitioner Post-graduate Certificate Program will acquire the breadth and depth of dermatology specialty knowledge, skills and abilities that are essential for the development of entry-level competencies. Focus will be placed on advancing their scientific knowledge in areas such as immunology, dermatopathology and pharmacology. In addition, sequential sessions will prepare nurse practitioners for the assessment, diagnosis, management and monitoring of patients with acute and chronic dermatologic conditions.