Barbara DeFazio

Good things come in small packages … and that phrase holds true for one committed volunteer, Barbara DeFazio. Unlike her petite size, Barbara holds a very large job as Coral Springs Medical Center’s Auxiliary President for the past 7 years, a term normally held for a maximum of 2 consecutive years. But with a decline in volunteers willing to accept this leadership role, Barbara has gracefully extended her commitment year after year rather than abandoning the Auxiliary. Now this is passion!

When you first meet Barbara, your impression may be one of a kind and loving grandmother. While she is that and more, she is also strong willed, determined and a dedicated leader who for the last 18 years has volunteered nearly 10,000 hours at the hospital.

While her donated hours are impressive, what’s most inspiring is her tenacity to make a difference. Leading by example, kindness and strength, Barbara successfully coordinates 400 volunteers and has raised nearly $1.5 million while CSMC Auxiliary President. These funds have purchased critical items like wheelchairs, heart monitors, stretchers, work carts, child birthing water tubs, and furniture just to name a few. In addition, annually the Auxiliary provides eight $1,500 scholarships for high school seniors seeking a career in the medical field.

Barbara has truly earned our utmost respect and her accomplishments exemplify a true commitment to serve the needs of the hospital and its community.

Joyce Freeman
Gift Shop Manager
Coral Springs Medical Center’s Auxiliary

What is your professional or volunteer job and what is your favorite part of it: As Manager of the Coral Springs Medical Center’s (CSMC) Auxiliary Gift Shop, I enjoy every aspect of my job: training new sales personnel, attending trade shows to find new and exciting merchandise, arranging and stocking the showcases and display shelves, helping customers make appropriate selection of a gift. Even dusting the shelves and sweeping the carpet!

Who has had the greatest impact on your life and/or career My father always encouraged me to stay strong and never give up.

Most rewarding aspect of a volunteer The feeling of being a part of a “family” working together towards a common goal: to make the CSMC the best it can possibly be. It gives me the incentive to strive to increase our sales so that the funds we raise go to the hospital to provide equipment not included in its budget. We have supplied extra amenities for the comfort of the patients and their families, such as lounge chairs and sleeper sofas, flat-screen televisions for Mother/Baby maternity rooms, a birthing tub, and State-of-the-Art diagnostic medical equipment. “I feel I am doing something constructive as well as productive with my life.”

What makes a lasting impression The good will that is engendered when employees share their good news with us such as the birth of a grandchild (with pictures, of course) and other happy events. I feel we are more than just a Gift Shop; we are an integral part of the hospital.

Favorite community groups and charities and why One of our most successful activities is the Annual Teddy Bear Parade at which time hundreds of teddy bears are collected, then distributed to the Police and Fire Departments which, in turn, are given to children as comfort when they are involved a traumatic situation.

With the money raised through the Gift Shop sales, as well as from our other fundraising activities, the Auxiliary is able to grant scholarships to young people entering the medical field. This year, we allocated $12,000 to eight deserving students.

What are you most proud of I am most proud of my wonderful sales staff. More than 25 dedicated women, many of whom have been in the Gift Shop since it opened nineteen years ago, have made it possible to keep it running. We only close for hurricanes! They have a very proprietary regard for the shop and are always looking for ways to improve its appearance. Besides the adult sales people, we have several teen volunteers who bring a youthful aspect to the shop. They are very quick, bright and eager to learn (this is part of their community services hours required for high school graduation.)

It is my pleasure to work closely with the other members of the Auxiliary Board whose tireless efforts have benefited the hospital as well. It is with their support and encouragement that I am able to maintain our high quality of service.

I also take great pride in the compliments we receive from customers as to the appearance of the shop and the selection of merchandise. I appreciate the “thank yous” from the nurses who use the equipment we provide for them.

Most fun at a charity event Watching others benefit from our charity efforts and knowing that our hard work pays off.

What makes your county special Coral Springs is the only city in Broward County, which has a summer camp for children with diabetes. It is called Camp KoralKids and is run by the Coral Springs Medical Center.

What community project are you currently working on The day-to-day responsibilities of managing and maintaining the Gift Shop is an ongoing project.

How do you relax I love to read and always have two to three books at my nightstand. I also love to play word games on the computer, which keeps my head sharp!

What’s a perfect day for you Lounging on the beach reading the latest Nora Roberts.

What’s a surprising fact about you I have no surprises. What you see is who I am.

Most prized possession and why I am in the process of sending my possessions to my two married children. I do not want to be burdened with “things”. If I did have a prized possession, it would be the plaque on my wall, which my husband and I won in 1985, for being the “Couples Champions” in a golf competition.



West Boca Medical Center recently celebrated its growth with a novel groundbreaking. Some of the facility’s former patients – all treated at West Boca’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) – toted ceremonial shovels and performed the honors to officially mark construction on a four-story addition that will expand the medical center’s NICU services, as well as other areas.

The centerpiece of the new structure will be 10 state-of-the-art NICU beds housed on the first floor, increasing the facility’s capacity from 24 to 34 beds.

Back Row (l-r) Courtney Brogan, Frank Brogan’s wife; Frank Brogan, FAU President; Tony Manganello, Parent of NICU Graduate; Walt Mickens, WBMC CEO; Rajiv Jagarnauth, NICU Graduate; and Shanna St. John, March of Dimes. Front Row (l-r): NICU Graduates Landy Altidor, Nicholas Dutra, Kayla Manganello, Hailey Voss, and Twins Jake and Sam Sclaver.

The 3,200-square-foot NICU addition will further expand West Boca Medical Center’s capacity to provide services to premature and at-risk infants. West Boca’s NICU holds the only Level III designation in North Broward County and Boca Raton, the highest-level rating offered by the state.

“We have always been known for being one of the top institutions in South Florida for treating the most vulnerable newborns, and now with this expansion, we’ll be able to provide more service and save even more lives,” said Walter Mickens, CEO of West Boca Medical Center.

The complete addition will contain 8,600 square feet, and three additional floors that will house the Pharmacy and Physical Therapy Centers.



There are a few topics as provocative and challenging in medicine as that of addiction. We are all well aware of the scourge of drug addiction and its attendant ability to destroy lives across all economic and social strata. As if the human tragedy were not sufficient, the political ramifications have become increasingly challenging, with drug money going to fund terrorist initiatives in different parts of the world. However, the most troublesome fact about addiction is that the most common and most devastating forms are perfectly legal and readily available.

Cigarette smoking is the single leading cause of preventable disease in the United States. You will never find this habit as the cause of death next to the physician’s signature on a death certificate, but the toll of cardiovascular and cancer deaths that result from smoking is staggering. Cigarette smoking harms virtually every organ system in the human body, and yet has nearly no beneficial effects. The adverse health effects from cigarette smoking account for an estimated 438,000 deaths, or nearly 1 of every 5 deaths, each year in the United States. More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined. Despite huge legal settlements and massive campaigns to the contrary, approximately one quarter of the adult population continues to smoke, although the numbers are thankfully dropping. Aggressive efforts to reduce second hand smoke have recently been documented to correlate with diminished cardiorespiratory morbidity. Medication to aid cessation is improving, with one-year success rates jumping from the 10-15d% range to the 25% range—discouraging, but improving. The social image of the smoker is an ephemeral phenomenon, but the once “cool” smoker is increasingly finding him/herself standing outside in the smoking area, somewhat of an outcast rather than the rugged individual of the “Marlboro man” years. We have “come a long way baby” (Virginia Slims ad touting the perverse concept that women succumbing to the addiction of cigarette smoking was somehow a manifestation of social progress), but we have a long way to go.

The other readily identifiable “social” addiction is alcoholism. The medical issue here is much less pristine. There is now more than credible evidence that one to two drinks per day are actually beneficial in cardiovascular disease protection. For obvious reasons, the medical community has been very reticent to discuss this fact, lest people misinterpret the findings and decide “if some is good, more must be better” and convince themselves that their doctors gave them permission to overindulge in alcohol.. However, one must never forget that the curve is “U”—shaped; that is, even though one or two drinks per day may be good for your heart, more can be toxic. More importantly, aside from the well-known toxic impact that alcohol has on the liver, and the generally toxic impact on all body systems in high doses, the greater issue is one of the lethal nature of drunk driving (17,000 traffic deaths in 2006) and domestic violence. Unfortunately, this is a problem that is neither diminishing nor abating.

Perhaps it would not be inappropriate to consider adding one more behavior to this list. The epidemic of obesity is now threatening to overtake cigarette smoking as the leading cause of preventable illness in the western world. Although the problem is complex and multifactorial, there is ample evidence that despite genetic predisposition, problems of food additives and food production, and lack of physical activity to blame, much of the problem lies simply in our choice of foods. Calorie-dense, readily available and nutritionally dangerous foods in high quantity make up an increasing portion of the Western diet. And we are successfully exporting and marketing this lethal approach across the planet. A sober review of the data would lead one to conclude that the choice we make regarding food and exercise, combined with a modicum of medical vigilance and medication could well prevent the majority of what is now the leading killer of men and women in this country—cardiovascular disease.

It is our realization that the human factor is critical in understanding our addictions and their health consequences that has compelled the Florida Heart Research Institute to couple our leading edge scientific research with both professional and community outreach efforts at education and prevention. It is only through a combined approach can we continue to meet the enemy, who, painful as it may be to admit, is largely ourselves.



Healthcare Underwriters Group of Florida (HUFL) recently paid its first cash dividend to its insured owners.

HUFL’s Chairperson, Steven Shapiro, M.D., said, “This dividend to our policyholders/owners is further proof that great doctors produce great results and also reflects HUFL’s strong financial position and confidence in the company’s future.”

According to HUFL’s President, Edward Feller, M.D., “Insuring the right doctors, fighting claims aggressively and managing conservatively is what gives HUFL the results that deliver rate stability to its policyholders and provides predictability in a time of uncertain market conditions and challenges

(l-r) Dr. Albert Tano, Owner, KIDZ Medical and Emergency Pediatric Services; Joshua Salman, VP & COO, Healthcare Underwriters Group of Florida; Norman Morris, Senior VP, Brown & Brown Insurance-HBA Division; Dr. Jorge Perez, Owner, KIDZ Medical and Emergency Pediatric Services; and Alfredo Andrial, Senior VP, Brown & Brown Insurance-HBA Division.

HUFL’s vision and focus is to stabilize the volatile professional liability insurance market and ensure steady growth through a combination of disciplined underwriting and vigorous claims defense. The Company is financially strong and committed to keeping Florida doctors in control of their professional liability insurance.

HUFL is a non-profit medical malpractice insurance reciprocal owned exclusively by its insureds/subscribers, Florida doctors. HUFL insures practicing physicians throughout Florida and in all medical specialties. HUFL’s highly experienced management team has a zero tolerance for nuisance claims and aggressively defends its physicians.



Our world is rapidly changing. There has been an explosive growth of technology and knowledge combined with a rapidly aging population. By the year 2040, there will be over 77 million people aged 65 and older in the United States alone. People are living longer and more people will be seeking medical treatment to enhance their quality of life.

In spite of these statistics, the number of open heart surgeries performed each year has been steadily declining. While this is partly due to the decreased incidence of cardiovascular disease, it is also because of the large-scale application of percutaneous coronary interventions. Technology now allows interventional cardiologists to go where only cardiothoracic surgeons went in the past. Traditionally invasive cardiac surgery is being replaced by transcatheter and endovascular procedures; to the point that it is something patients have come to expect. Most patients expect to undergo minimally invasive procedures with no incision and to leave the hospital within a day or two. Where does the role of the cardiac surgeon fit into this rapidly changing field of medicine and patient expectation? Quite simply, it has to evolve.

Evolution is nothing new for cardiothoracic surgery. It is a relatively new field that has been around for about 50 years. It wasn’t until the late 1950’s that the heart lung bypass machine was perfected enough to be used in surgery. For the first time, surgeons had time to work on a heart that was not only empty of blood, but which wasn’t moving. Surgeons could actually go “inside” the heart for hours at a time to perform intricate life-saving surgeries. What followed was a period of explosive growth and rapid advancement in the treatment of heart conditions.

Until about 25 years ago, most cardiothoracic surgeons operated out of university settings. This changed in the early 1980’s. As the demand increased, universities were overloaded from a volume and financial perspective due to the high acuity of these patients. Community hospitals began building open-heart surgery programs. More and more hospitals wanted to offer this cutting edge technology and invested large amounts of money in building operating suites and attracting highly trained surgeons and ancillary staff members. Until the mid-1990’s cardiac surgery continued to enjoy solid growth.

As we approach the end of another decade, cardiac surgery is evolving again. While there will always be a demand for cardiothoracic surgeons, some areas of cardiac surgery are being replaced by percutaneous and endovascular procedures performed by interventional cardiologists and vascular surgeons. This includes a substantial portion of coronary surgery, aortic, mitral and pulmonary stenosis surgery, arrhythmia surgery (pacemaker and defibrillator implants have been taken over by electrophysiologically trained interventionists), and atrial septal defect. Even thoracic aortic aneurysms are being treated with endovascular procedures.

Even with these advances, open surgery is still the only option in certain cases and the skill of experienced surgeons remains indispensable. Unfortunately, due to declining volumes, fewer physicians are electing to pursue the additional education and training necessary to specialize in cardiac surgery. Hospitals are finding it harder to recruit and retain not only cardiac surgeons, but also the paramedical staff needed to sustain a quality cardiac program. In order to remain competitive, hospitals will need to be proactive and invest in new technology and treatment protocols and develop market niches. Cardiac surgeons and interventionists will need to adjust to a team approach. As technology drives changes, there will be no room for solo endeavors. Each specialty will become more dependent on the other with the safety of the patient always being of paramount importance.

The convenience of a cardiothoracic surgeon at the community level will become increasingly rare and it is also likely we will see a more regionalized approach for complex cardiac care. While community hospitals will continue to experience growth in percutaneous and endovascular cases, more complex cases will be referred to regional centers which will have the expertise of the entire cardiac team, including the surgeon, interventionist, and paramedical support staff.