The Regional Cancer Center at Wellington is one of a select group of hospitals across the country now offering Novalis® Shaped Beam Surgery by BrainLAB, one of the most sophisticated radiation treatment systems available today.

Novalis is a dedicated system for noninvasive stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy. First implemented for the treatment of brain tumors or lesions, where pinpoint accuracy is required, radiation oncologists can now take advantage of its accuracy to treat other areas of the body improving the range of a patient’s treatment options. Novalis can be used to treat:

  • Cancerous or benign lesions that have started in the brain or spread to the brain.
  • Arteriovenous malformations (a type of vascular disorder) of the brain.
  • Functional brain disorders such as trigeminal neuralgia/tic douloureux.
  • Relatively small tumors in other areas of the body, such as the head and neck, prostate liver, spine and breast.
  • Tumors located so close to sensitive normal structures that it would be dangerous to treat the tumor with standard radiation techniques, such as tumors close to the spinal cord. This is exceptionally beneficial in situations where the region has been previously irradiated.

“Novalis is a major advancement in the treatment of tumors or lesions in delicate areas because of its ability to target tumors very precisely and shape the treatment beam, thus further protect healthy tissue. We are now able to take advantage of its accuracy to treat other areas of the body such as the lung, prostate, breast, liver and head and neck,” said Kishore Dass, M.D., Board Certified Radiation Oncologist.

The Novalis x-ray imaging and electronic detector panels allow immediate and extremely precise imaging of internal structures. This provides unprecedented levels of set-up accuracy. “We can now use image guidance to evaluate the movement of the lung or liver with respiration, and adjust the radiation beam to the movement of the tumor,” continued Dr. Dass.

Unlike other current radiation technologies which deliver the radiation dose through a fixed circular collimator, Novalis delivers the radiation dose through a Multi Leaf Collimator with movable leaves that tailor and precisely contour the beam to match the size and shape of the tumor from all angles, ensuring that the tumor receives the fully prescribed dose of radiation while at the same time protecting the surrounding normal tissue.

The Regional Cancer Center at Wellington provides comprehensive radiation therapy and follow-up care to thousands of patients each year. For more information about this exciting technology, call The Regional Cancer Center at Wellington at (561) 793-6500.



George Gintoli, Vice President of Secured Treatment Facilities for GEO Care has emerged as a leader and visionary in the provision of forensic psychiatric services in the State of Florida. Gintoli along with his team at GEO and the Florida Department of Children and Families Care has been instrumental in opening a total of 275 beds at two facilities in a record 90 days in the Spring of 2007. GEO Care’s secure care division specializes in providing mental health assessments and psychiatric rehabilitation to individuals who have been declared incompetent to proceed to trial (ITP) or not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI) by the state circuit courts.

Gintoli joined GEO Care in January, 2005 after serving as Director of the South Carolina Department of Mental Health for seven years. Gintoli’s principal vision for GEO Care is “promoting the design, development, planning and operation of recovery based systems of care in forensic psychiatric inpatient facilities.”

With this vision at heart, he helped negotiate the contract with the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to provide forensic psychiatric services to help relieve a backlog of forensic inmates waiting in county jail facilities. The contract was awarded on December 21, 2007. Gintoli, along with corporate support and teams from existing GEO facilities, set out to habilitate two vacant buildings and prepare them to receive patient in about sixty days. Preparations included purchasing furniture, arranging contracts, coordinating services, writing policies and procedures, obtaining required licenses and certificates, and the most difficult of all the tasks, screening and hiring close to four hundred employees. The first patients were accepted on February 27, 2007 and within the next 60 days the two facilities had process and accepted close to 275 patients. As of June 2007, DCF announced that the backlog of individuals awaiting placement to forensic facilities from county jails had been reduced to zero. Gintoli’s guidance, leadership, and supervision were instrumental in achieving this great success. Today, the South Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center Annex and the Treasure Cost Forensic Facility are fully functional and operating close to capacity.

These facilities subscribe to the GEO Care philosophy that believes in the “Recovery Model” for treatment of the seriously and persistently mentally ill. This model of therapeutic intervention is evidence-based and incorporates the belief that recovery is personal and unique to each individual.

GEO Care’s status as a leading provider of mental health services for public/private partnerships has been established by a highly trained qualified work force which is the key element to the operation of successful, safe, efficient, and secure forensic mental health facilities.

Gintoli and his team can be proud that their efforts have resulted in the community being able to meet the requirements of a segment of their population with pressing needs and with limited options prior to the opening of these two facilities.



Catholic Health Services is always exploring ways to invigorate the organization in ways that reinforce the delivery of superior care to patients and residents, support staff commitment to excellence, and continued stewardship of the community and the planet’s resources. Their mantra, like their tagline is Quality care + Quality Service = a Higher Quality of Life!

Starting with the construction of the new facility in Hialeah Gardens, St. Catherine’s West Rehabilitation Hospital, Catholic Health Services is going green with energy management. Identifying technologies and equipment that will use less water and energy allows staff to improve their response time and productivity as well as making it easier to manage the facilities and systems. It’s no secret that healthcare facilities that build green lower their energy cost, reduce waste and provide a healthier environment for their patients and employees. The overall goals of the CHS plan are to reduce energy usage and greenhouse emissions, reduce water usage, and minimize utility costs.

St. Catherine’s West Rehabilitation Hospital
Photo provided by Arellano Construction

The 67,300 square foot St. Catherine’s West Rehab Hospital, will be the first healthcare facility in South Florida to implement such steps that will lean toward green.

“Working with consultants specializing in energy management and efficiency, together with our contracted electrical engineers on the project, we will put in place a Building Management System which improves staff productivity, saves energy and pre-empts problems by automatically alerting staff if a setting or system starts going out of range so that steps can be taken to avoid serious problems. For example, the green –friendly HVAC units are high efficiency and continuously track and monitor for any potential deficiency or failure in the system.” says George Miraglia, Catholic Health Services Director of Facilities Management.

CHS’ strategy includes retrofitting its existing facilities and campuses, totaling over 430,000 square feet. These numbers reflect medical campuses such as CHS South Campus housing St. Anne’s Nursing Center and Residence, Villa Maria Nursing Center which is over 150,000 sq ft and the CHS North Campus, where four different service lines occupy over 160,000 sq feet of space. Among the proposed initiatives for energy management are low-flow water technologies, such as installing low-flow toilets, urinals, showerheads and faucets; specialized recycling equipment; lighting technology and daylight harvesting and installation of occupancy sensors.

“In our older buildings we plan to replace existing chillers with more energy efficient ones which will allow us to optimize temperature set points. During times of low demand for chilled water, we can set the temperature higher so there is less energy used unnecessarily. We also plan to utilize variable speed drives on chillers which result in longer motor life as well as conserving energy. Heat pump chillers will also help reduce energy use. A combination unit can capture the waste heat from chilling water and use it to create hot water,” shares Miraglia. “Computerized utility systems will continuously monitor our usage and efficiency.” Re-commissioning of existing systems is also under consideration. It would require scrutiny of each system to ensure that it is working as originally designed. Adjustments would be made to optimize performance of each system as usage may have changed since the initial installation and systems may have expanded or been altered. These steps can extend the life of the equipment and systems while improving energy efficiency.

In addition to the environmental benefits enjoyed through the implementation of these initiatives, there exists abundant documentation confirming that green health care facilities are better able to prevent the spread of germs, provide healthier indoor air and let in more natural light. “The financial impact of this system wide project is significant,” comments Mary Jo Frick, VP Finance Catholic Health Services. “We anticipate a potential annual savings of over $250,000 when combining electric, gas and water consumption. These savings free up cash for self funding facility upgrades. There are also numerous grants and rebate opportunities that can help offset the costs of improvements under consideration.”

Critical to the successful execution of the overall program is information and education. CHS plans to provide employees with educational materials and in-services introducing them to the concept of sustainability, which will help employees identify opportunities for reducing their use of resources and minimizing waste.

The following illustrates the depth of the community impact through these planned initiatives over a 12 year period.

Passenger cars not driven for one year: 3,374
Gallons of Gasoline: 1,775,329
Barrels of oil: 36,250
Household electricity for one year (# of households): 2,001
Tons of waste recycled instead of land filled: 5,248



The South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association (SFHHA) re-elected Ken Hetlage Chairman of the Board during the organization’s annual meeting. Hetlage received his Masters in Health Administration from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He has worked at Memorial Health System since 1988 and currently is Administrator of Memorial West. Hetlage is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and is a Board member of the United Way of Broward County.

In addition to his election, SFHHA announced other officers: Heather Rohan, CEO, Aventura Hospital, is Vice Chairman; Aurelio Fernandez, Administrator, Memorial Miramar is Past Chairman; Patricia Greenberg, President, National Healthcare Associates, is Treasurer; and Fred Stock, COO, Miami Jewish Home & Hospital for the Aged is Secretary.

Three new members were elected to the Board of Directors. They are Agustin Arellano, President of Arellano Construction; Steven Klein, COO. Jackson Health System; and Manuel Linares, CEO, North Shore Medical Center.



Chief of Cardiology
West Palm Beach VA Medical Center

Dr. Venkataraman Balu is a senior non-invasive cardiologist presently working as Chief of Cardiology at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center since September of 2000. Dr. Balu came from Buffalo, New York, where he served as a Clinical Associate Professor at the State University of Buffalo School of Medicine. He was actively involved with clinical research and the teaching of medical students, residents and cardiology fellows. Dr. Balu was also in private practice and was associated with the VAMC at Buffalo as the Chief of Echocardiography. He carries a service record of 23 years within the VA Health Care System. He has abstracts and publications to his credit. He has conducted many CME programs and has presented at national and international meetings. He loves to teach and was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for his teachings by the Physician Assistants at the West Palm Beach Medical Center.

Dr. Balu heads a team of dedicated cardiologists who are committed in providing excellent cardiac care to our veterans. He writes poetry in his native language and has released two musical CDs. In addition, he is involved with charitable work in India.