Memorial Healthcare System Making Strides in Research, Community Outreach, and Patient Experience

A year and half after first coming together in a clinical partnership that has enhanced care for leukemia and lymphoma patients in South Florida, Tampa-based Moffitt Cancer Center and Memorial Healthcare System have taken their relationship to a whole new level. In November 2018, both institutions extended their partnership to include research, giving patients access to Moffitt trials while receiving care at Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, the facility where Moffitt’s Malignant Hematology and Cellular Therapy program resides.

 

The portfolio of trials is extensive, according to Candice Sareli, M.D., chief medical research officer at Memorial Healthcare System’s Office of Human Research. “Moffitt is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) accredited site and they do a large amount of investigator initiated and translational (bench to bedside) research. This is a major benefit for patients in South Florida.”

 

The Moffitt program at Memorial Hospital West is led by Hugo Fernandez, M.D., and provides services of malignant hematology therapy and blood and marrow transplant, as well as those related to molecular diagnostics, personalized medicine, and hematopathology. In less than two years, the program has conducted more than 100 bone and marrow transplants from both autologous (self) and allogenic (related or unrelated) donors.

 

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer for Haitian women, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among that group, according to the Institut Català d’Oncologia Information Centre on HPV and Cancer, a data clearinghouse. Yet, it is nearly 100% preventable.

 

In an effort to reduce the number of deaths, two Memorial Healthcare System physicians founded Primary Care Haiti, a 501 (c)(3) organization that provides continuing medical education to healthcare professionals in Haiti.

 

“Our initial focus was on the early detection and treatment of cervical pre-cancer, which is

caused by the HPV virus and is easily detectable using a pap smear,” said Primary Care Haiti Co-founder Jennifer Goldman, D.O., a board-certified family physician and medical director at South Broward Community Health Services, Memorial’s primary care provider. “Unfortunately, pap smears are resource intensive and logistically difficult in Haiti.”

 

In addition to the equipment needed for each test, a pathologist is needed to read each sample individually. With very few pathologists in Haiti, getting these slides read was challenging. To overcome the logistical hurdles, the group partnered with the Institute Haitien D’Oncologie, the Haitian Institute of Oncology, and started training local Haitian healthcare providers on how to conduct the pap smears. During initial training sessions, Primary Care Haiti had more than 600 patients seek diagnostic services.

 

“In our quest for high quality, low cost, highly sensitive screening tests for cervical cancer, we then turned to the World Health Organization for screen and treat programs for low resource countries,” said Kissinger Goldman, D.O., MBA, a board-certified emergency physician at Memorial Hospital West and the director of patient experience for Memorial Healthcare System’s emergency departments.

 

Primary Care Haiti was able to secure medical devices that were portable and would work in areas with little or no electricity. This has enabled them to train healthcare professionals in Haiti to screen in any rural or urban setting, and make way for treatment that enables the health centers to develop a sustainable program.

 

“Next steps for our organization include combining the screen and treat program with point of care HPV testing, collaborating with other nonprofit organizations in Haiti, and working with pharmaceutical companies to bring the HPV vaccine to the island to prevent further incidence of cervical cancer,” said Dr. Kissinger Goldman.

 

Memorial Healthcare System’s Memorial Cancer Institute and Memorial Physician Group have received the 2018 Guardian of Excellence Award® from Press Ganey for providing an exceptional patient experience. The award honors top-performing healthcare organizations who have reached the 95th percentile for patient experience, engagement or clinical quality performance. Recipients have sustained performance in the top 5% for each reporting period for the award year.

 

"We are proud to partner with Memorial Cancer Institute to support their mission to provide safe, high-quality, patient-centered care,” said Patrick T. Ryan, CEO of Press Ganey. “They are truly dedicated to delivering exceptional care in the communities they serve, and their commitment to capturing and acting on patient experience feedback is a very powerful demonstration of this.”

 

Presented annually, the Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award is recognized nationally as a symbol of achievement in health care. The award underscores innovative approaches to physical medicine that makes it possible for health administrators to lower costs while achieving better outcomes, increasing patient satisfaction, and improving the work life of health care providers.