In 2007, Holy Cross Hospital was named one of Americas 50 Best Hospitals (while earning several more distinctions from HealthGrades), opened the award-winning Michael & Dianne Bienes Diagnostic Imaging Center and participated in groundbreaking, world-caliber research. All in all, an exceptional year.
Holy Cross started 2007 by being ranked among the nations top five percent of hospitals for clinical excellence for the fifth consecutive year, according to a study of mortality and complication rates by HealthGrades, the nations leading independent healthcare ratings company.
A month later, Holy Cross was named one of Americas 50 Best Hospitals by HealthGrades.
According to the Tenth Annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study, Holy Cross Hospital ranked among the top 5% in the nation for orthopedics and among the top 10% for pulmonary and stroke care. The study, the largest of its kind, analyzed patient outcomes at virtually all of the nation’s 5,000 hospitals over the years 2004, 2005 and 2006.
(l-r) John Johnson and Dr. M. Lee Pearce at the blessing and dedication of the HealthPlex.
The study also found that Holy Cross Hospital is 5-star rated for: Treatment of Heart Attack; Heart Failure, Atrial Fibrillation; Overall Orthopedic Services, Joint Replacement, Total Knee Replacement, Total Hip Replacement, Hip Fracture Repair, Spinal Fusion; Community Acquired Pneumonia, Overall Pulmonary Care, Treatment of Stroke, Community Acquired Pneumonia, GI Procedures and Surgeries and Treatment of Sepsis.
“At Holy Cross Hospital, we have a skillful and dedicated team of clinicians and employees,” said John C. Johnson, President & CEO. “It is because of their hard work that our patients and their families receive quality healthcare that is among the best in the nation.”
More outpatients were able to experience that skill and dedication with the 2007 opening of the Michael & Dianne Bienes Diagnostic Imaging Center. The Diagnostic Imaging Center offers patients the most advanced imaging services available in South Florida in a comfortable and technologically advanced 14,000-square foot facility staffed by dedicated technologists and Board Certified radiologists. Positioned steps away from the Main Entrance of Holy Cross Hospital, the Michael and Dianne Bienes Diagnostic Imaging Center promises a diagnostic experience unlike any other from the moment you call to schedule an appointment. On November 9, the Imaging Center won the 2007 South Florida Business Journal Excellence in Healthcare Award in the Facilities & Expansion category.
In May, Holy Cross blessed and dedicated the Holy Cross HealthPlex, eight weeks after Holy Cross announced receipt of a $20 million charitable gift from visionary philanthropist and medical pioneer M. Lee Pearce, M.D., J.D., to assist Holy Cross Hospital in the establishment of a comprehensive off-campus ambulatory / outpatient services center close to the hospital.
Through a structured donation and bargain sale of land, buildings and medical equipment, Dr. M. Lee Pearce enabled Holy Cross Hospital to acquire the outpatient ambulatory services enterprise at the former Oakridge Medical Complex site for use in support of its Mission. Through the arrangement, Holy Cross Hospital acquired 19 acres of land with over 200,000 sq. ft. of medical buildings and related clinical equipment dedicated to ambulatory healthcare including physician offices, surgical, diagnostic, imaging and other ancillary services for the benefit of the community.
Holy Cross achieved several notables in the research arena in 2007. For starters, the Jim Moran Heart & Vascular Research Institute began participating in a novel clinical trial investigating whether a subjects own stem cells can treat a form of severe coronary artery disease. The Autologous CD34+ Cells for the Treatment of Chronic Myocardial Ischemia (ACT34-CMI) Trial is the first human Phase II adult stem cell therapy study in the U.S. designed to investigate the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of blood-derived selected CD34+ stem cells to improve symptoms and clinical outcomes in subjects with chronic myocardial ischemia (CMI), a severe form of coronary artery disease.
The Research Institute is one of 15 to 20 research sites nationwide participating in the study, which is sponsored by the Cellular Therapies business unit of Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Baxter technology is used to select the subjects own CD34+ stem cells that are under investigation in this trial.
Additionally, the Jim Moran Heart & Vascular Research Institute formed a Scientific Advisory Committee to openly review and discuss the opportunities to bring more cutting-edge research to South Florida. The Committee includes John Johnson, Alan Niederman, M.D., Nicolas A.F. Chronos, M.D., Alan C. Yeung, M.D., Mark C. Poznansky, M.D., Ph D, Robert A. Harrington, M.D., Michael C. Gibson, M.D., Joshua Michael Hare, M.D., and Robert Superko, M.D.
The Committees initial fall meeting included a discussion of the focus and mission of the Jim Moran Heart & Vascular Research Institute, collaboration between healthcare institutions, the vision of translational research within a community setting, the roadmap to accomplish this mission and more.
In 2007, Holy Cross Hospital was named one of Americas 50 Best Hospitals (while earning several more distinctions from HealthGrades), opened the award-winning Michael & Dianne Bienes Diagnostic Imaging Center and participated in groundbreaking, world-caliber research. All in all, an exceptional year. 
