Chip O’Neal does not think of himself as a hero. To Chip, a hero is someone like his son Dan who is serving in the Army in Iraq. But to JFK, both Chip and his son Dan are heroes.

Chip has been working in the Engineering department at JFK for the past 13 years. When Hurricane Frances hit West Palm Beach, Chip, who was part of the hurricane relief team at JFK, drove straight to work in the midst of the storm, dodging trees and power lines the whole way. When the power went out at JFK, kicking on the backup generators, Chip tirelessly met the electrical needs for every department in the hospital. Going without sleep for two days and never leaving the hospital, Chip made sure all those who needed power had it. Never at any point did his focus shift from the task at hand. Not even when he received a call two days after Hurricane Frances and learned that his son had been injured in Iraq.


JFK Employees bid Chip & Betty O’Neal farewell at the airport.

PFC 1st Class Dan O’Neal, 19, who has been in the Army for a little over a year, was patrolling Iraq with two other soldiers when there was an explosion ten feet from their vehicle. As shrapnel rained down on them, Dan was thrown from the vehicle. By the time Chip knew of his son’s injury, Dan was in surgery because of a head wound he received from the shrapnel.

While Dan was stabilized and transferred to a hospital in Germany, Hurricane Jeanne hit the east coast of Florida. Once again, Chip came to JFK and worked without sleep, making sure all the electrical needs of the hospital were met. He dedicated himself to JFK, even though his own house sustained significant damage in the storms.

Immediately after Hurricane Jeanne, JFK sent Chip and his wife Betty to Germany so that they could visit Dan and make sure he was OK. JFK paid for the airline tickets and hotels, and several JFK employees met Chip and Betty at the airport with signs and cameras to bid them farewell. They arrived in Germany and met with their son’s doctors to discuss his injuries and recovery. When they went to Dan’s room to surprise him, their family reunion was filled with tears and relief.

Dan still has trouble hearing and walking, and it is unsure at this point whether his hearing will return, but his spirits are soaring and doctors are optimistic about his recovery. Chip and Betty are so grateful to JFK for their generosity, they still get a tear in their eye when they talk about their experience. But it is JFK who is grateful to have someone like Chip O’Neal, a hero at home, and Dan O’Neal, a hero abroad.



The marketplace is sending clear messages that it wants health insurers to place increasing emphasis on providing access to affordable, quality health care services, and it wants the hassle factor involved in working with insurers greatly reduced. UnitedHealthcare in the coming year will intensify its efforts to meet and exceed those market expectations, focusing on the introduction of more new products and services; on better, simpler, higher quality and lower cost business processes; and on more useable technologies than ever before.

For physicians, hospitals and other providers of health care services, what that means is the opportunity to gain greater value out of their relationship with UnitedHealthcare increasing use of real-time electronic submission of claims as a means of faster claims turn around. We anticipate that physicians, hospitals and others will see an increased emphasis on customer service that is faster in responding, with a renewed emphasis on accuracy.

Just as UnitedHealthcare is intensely focused on improving its own efficiency in serving the needs of its many customers (providers of health care services, employers, brokers and individual customers), so too are we committed to identifying and recognizing high quality, efficient health care delivery. In 2004, we introduced UnitedHealth Premium Cardiac Specialty Centers, of which there are six such centers in the S. Florida area. The UnitedHealth Premium Cardiac Specialty Centers program identifies hospitals nationwide that are leaders in cardiac care. Select hospitals in the UnitedHealthcare network are invited to apply for designation. In 2005, the UnitedHealth Premium concept will be expanded to musculoskeletal and oncology services.

Because of concern about the variability of health care practice across the nation and even within communities, UnitedHealthcare has a deep commitment to the concept of evidence-based medicine. The health care community in S. Fla. and nationwide already has seen or heard about that commitment, but in the coming year the emphasis on evidence-based medicine will intensify. Just within the last couple of weeks, UnitedHealthcare announced a partnership with the American College of Radiology to advance evidence-based criteria that will support the delivery of higher quality, safe, appropriate and cost-effective diagnostic imaging services.

The health care community in 2005 increasingly will come into contact with patients covered by high deductible health plans, including those with health savings accounts (HSAs), as employers continue looking for affordable health insurance coverage for their employees. While HSAs sales are still in their earliest stage, both large and small employers are signaling their strong interest. In turn, such plans are engaging patients to a much greater degree in health care decision making. UnitedHeathcare is committed to providing its customers with resources they need to be fully engaged in that process. The customer internet site myuhc.com provides information on hospital comparisons, costs comparisons, information on best practices, etc.

The commitment to sharing information on best practices and evidence-based medicine also extends to physicians and others in our health care network. The UnitedHealth Foundation twice each year sends all physicians in the nation a copy of Clinical Evidence, which is produced by the British Medical Journal. Through its Physician Data Sharing program, UnitedHealthcare is able to share useful clinical information, gathered from its vast data resources, with physicians.

The programs and trends mentioned here, as well as many others, are representative of the broad-based efforts that UnitedHealthcare can be expected to focus on in 2005 as it continues its mission of offering customers access to affordable, quality health care services.



Florida Medical Center recently announced that for the last five years, from the year 2000 through the second quarter of 2004, the hospital performed the most mitral valve replacement surgeries in Broward County, is the second leading provider for mitral valve repair in the area, and is the third leading provider for all mitral valve surgery in South Florida, according to data from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).

In addition, the data also revealed that affiliated cardiovascular surgeon, Harold G. Roberts, M.D., F.A.C.S. and Chairman, Heart Institute of Florida Committee at Florida Medical Center, leads the state for the last five years in number of mitral valve repair cases.

“Saving and improving the lives of people in this community are the top priorities of our physicians and staff,” said Aurelio Fernandez, the hospital’s CEO. “These findings demonstrate our staff’s commitment to patients and the community’s trust in our cardiac program.”

Florida Medical Center is also one of the few hospitals in Broward County that offers minimally invasive valve surgery, one of the latest developments in cardiac technology, providing a safer, less painful alternative for the 90,000+ patients annually nationwide that require heart valve surgery.

“Florida Medical Center has earned numerous accolades for its excellence in cardiac services, making it a perfect place for me to share my expertise with the community,” Dr. Roberts said. “I am fortunate to be part of a facility that supports cardiac surgery and allows me to be a leader in complex valve surgery.”

The hospital has a proven record of quality health care. For the past five years, HealthGrades, a national healthcare quality rating company, has ranked Florida Medical Center in the top five percent of all hospitals in the nation for cardiology services and cardiac interventions and has given the hospital their highest five-star ratings for the treatment of heart attack and heart failure and for cardiac interventional procedures. Florida Medical Center is also the recipient of HealthGrades’ 2005 Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence, an honor only conferred to the top five percent of hospitals in the United States for clinical quality performance.



Mount Sinai Medical Center is proud to offer comprehensive and compassionate mental health services in a newly renovated, state-of-the-art Adult Behavioral Health Services Unit, located on the main medical center campus in Miami Beach. The 19-bed facility addresses the needs of acute or chronic patients who require stabilization in a secure treatment environment.

“At Mount Sinai, we are dedicated to providing a continuum of outstanding healthcare services that meet not only the community’s physical needs, but the psychological needs as well,” said Steven D. Sonenreich, president and chief executive officer of the medical center.

(l-r) Thomas Mahle, Director, Behavioral Medicine; Saki Sacdalan, Nurse Manager, Behavioral Medicine; Steven D. Sonenreich, President & CEO of Mount Sinai Medical Center.

The program serves voluntary and involuntary patients for diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric symptoms. A team of mental health professionals works together to offer patients a comprehensive approach to care, including: individual and group therapy, occupational and recreational therapy, psycho-education, and psychiatric nursing. The hospital also offers specialized care for elderly patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and other disorders.

In addition to treatment, the renovated psychiatric unit provides a quiet, safe and supportive setting that fosters healing and growth for all patients. The result is a therapeutic atmosphere in which patients’ daily activities and environment are directed toward his or her return to the community and an independent life.



Every day, advances are being made in the field of cardiac care. From new medications to treat heart problems to less invasive ways of diagnosing the disease, patients are benefiting from the strides made by cardiovascular researchers.

“Within the field of cardiology, there have been advances made in many different areas,” explained Dr. Gervasio Lamas, director of Cardiovascular Research and Academic Affairs at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Florida. “There have been advances made in device therapy, like pacemakers and defibrillators; advances in catheter-based therapies; and advances in pharmacology, or the drugs used to treat heart disease.”

According to Dr. Lamas, one of the most exciting potential advances in the device therapy field is a new pacemaker-like device that is used to strengthen the heartbeat of patients with heart failure. “It’s a very novel therapy that has been used in pilot studies with a small number of patients,” he said. “This high-output pacemaker stimulates the heart as it is beating, which appears to make the heart beat more strongly.” Mount Sinai, which is the only south Florida hospital currently involved in this multi-center trial, is still looking for patients with heart failure to participate.

Continually evolving technology is making a difference in catheter-based treatment, including the use of different filtering devices to catch the debris that accumulates in the bloodstream as the result of having a stent implanted. “There have been seminal advancements made in terms of intercoronary stents and drug-eluting stents,” said Dr. Lamas. “Where before we were seeing revolutionary advances, now we are seeing evolutionary advances.”

“Within the next two to five years, I also see a real change in the way we diagnose coronary artery disease,” he added. “The computer technology of CAT scans has improved so much that the pictures we get from this non-invasive method are equal to the ones we get when we use a catheter and squirt dye directly into the coronary arteries. I think that in the future, catheters will only be used for therapeutic reasons, like closing a hole in the heart or opening an artery.”

On the pharmacological side of things, stem cells are being used to regenerate heart tissue lost after a heart attack or viral infection of the heart. “This is looming out there as a major advancement,” said Dr. Lamas, “though this technology is not yet ready for primetime.” In the next two months, Mount Sinai also plans to participate in a drug therapy trial in which an oral antithrombin agent will be substituted for Coumadin, a potent anticoagulant that can cause complications in some patients.

Dr. Lamas is also spearheading a clinical trial at Mount Sinai to test chelation therapy, an alternative medical treatment for coronary artery disease. “Though rejected by mainstream cardiologists, chelation therapy has been used since the 1970s by alternative medicine physicians,” explained Dr. Lamas. “More than 1 million chelation infusions are given in the U.S. yearly, without clear evidence of benefit or harm.” Chelation therapy uses a man-made amino acid, called EDTA, to grab heavy metal molecules in the blood and excrete them from the body.

At A Glance
Dr. Gervasio A. Lamas
Director of Cardiovascular Research and Academic Affairs
Mount Sinai Medical Center

Education:
B.A. in biochemical sciences (cum laude), Harvard College
M.D., New York University School of Medicine
Internship, residency, and cardiology training: Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School

Honors:
Served as president of the Miami Chapter of the American Heart Association
Served as District Counselor for the American College of Cardiology
Named Latino of the Year in 2005 by the Latin Business Club of America

Proudest Career Accomplishment:
“I’m proudest of the role I played in the development of ACE (angiotension-converting enzyme) inhibitors for high-risk heart attack patients in studies performed at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. This medication has resulted in a 20 to 30 percent reduction in the rate of death from a heart attack in the sickest patients.”

Most Valuable Lessons Learned:
“In medicine, so-called truths or classic teachings are not true unless they have been proven. Until you do your homework, experiment, and perform clinical trials, you really don’t know the answers. A healthy skepticism is the best scientific attitude.”
“Most of the time, if you listen to a patient, they will tell you what’s wrong with them.”

Dr. Lamas designed a trial to test the therapy, and has currently given more than 30,000 infusions to the 850 patients enrolled. “Sometime in the next two to three years, we’ll know if this therapy works,” said Dr. Lamas. “If it does, it will benefit patients by causing a reduction in coronary and other vascular events, in turn reducing the rates of death, stroke and hospitalizations. It could also open up the door to a lot of other alternative therapies.”

Even with all of the advancements in the field, however, Dr. Lamas says he expects to see cardiologists continue to be in demand in the near future. “We are seeing the incidence of premature heart attacks in young people decreasing in proportion to having their cholesterol and hypertension treated, and because fewer people are smoking,” he said. “Yet Americans continue to be obese and sedentary, including children as they enter adulthood. Until people stop smoking, lose weight, exercise and take care of their cholesterol, we cardiologists will not enter that exalted state of unemployment.”

One benefit of these new technologies as they become available is that they will enable doctors to try to help patients take control of their futures, added Dr. Lamas. “We will be able to diagnose problems much earlier because of the technology, which means I will be able to tell a 35-year-old inert, overweight man that I see plaque and fatty deposits already forming on his arteries,” he explained. “I will be able to tell him that the process has started and that he’s on track for a heart attack in his 50s. Hopefully, with that ammunition in hand, he will change his behavior.”