June 29, 2021 — John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP, Vice Chief of the Emergency Department of Holy Cross Health, was presented with the 2021 Physician Excellence Award at this year’s First There First Care Conference, the premier EMS conference for EMTs, paramedics, nurses, physicians and other healthcare professionals.
The Physician Excellence Award is presented to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to Emergency Medical Services in Florida. Dr. Cunha was instrumental in helping local EMS get access to COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccinations.
“Dr. Cunha’s leadership and medical expertise helped guide our department through one of the darkest moments of its history when over half of the city’s first responders were affected by COVID-19,” said Stephen Krivjanik, the Chief of Oakland Park EMS, where Dr. Cunha has been Medical Director since 2012. “His day-to-day guidance and pursuit of medical excellence within our first responder teams allowed us to provide top-of-the-line medical care to our community. We are proud of Dr. Cunha, and we join the rest of the medical community in congratulating him on this recognition.”
Board-certified in Emergency Medicine, Dr. Cunha earned his B.S. in Biology from Rutgers University and a D.O. from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, Missouri. He completed residency training in emergency medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, N.J. He has written and edited hundreds of original health and medical articles that have been published. He is a volunteer with Florida Dachshund Rescue.
“This award is a testament to our tremendous teamwork at Holy Cross,” said Dr. Cunha, who joined the non-profit hospital in 2006. “We consistently identified the needs of the local EMS providers and in the pandemic and helped them any way we could. I’m honored to get the award and extremely proud of our team at Holy Cross Health.”
About Holy Cross Health:
A member of Trinity Health, Fort Lauderdale-based Holy Cross Hospital, dba Holy Cross Health, is a full-service, non-profit, Catholic, teaching hospital operating in the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy. Holy Cross has been named one of the top 10 hospitals in the Miami metro area and among the top 30 in the state in U.S. News and World Report’s 2020-2021 Best Hospital rankings. Through strategic collaborations and a commitment to being a person-centered, transforming, healing presence, the 557-bed hospital offers progressive inpatient, outpatient and community outreach services and clinical research trials to serve as our community’s trusted health partner for life. Holy Cross Health also encompasses Holy Cross HealthPlex outpatient facility, urgent care centers and more than 50 Holy Cross Medical Group physician practices. To learn more about Holy Cross Health, visit holy-cross.com. Connect @holycrossfl.
