Patient Credits Care Team at Baptist Health Emergency Care Center with Saving Her Life

One year ago, after a night out full of dancing and fun with her husband, Martha Gonzalez arrived at the newly opened Baptist Health Emergency Care center in West Kendall with what doctors later determined was a severe heart attack. Since then, Martha has made a full recovery, and she wanted to thank the team who cared for her for all they did to save her life. She and her husband were a sweet surprise at the center’s one-year anniversary celebration.

Just weeks after the center opened, Martha arrived with chest pains and shortness of breath. The doctors and nurses reacted quickly by giving her medications to help increase her blood pressure and intubating her to ensure her oxygen levels were controlled. She was rushed to get a CT scan of her chest, which was reviewed by the cardiologist who determined that she needed a stat ECHO and would be transferred to Baptist Hospital for Intensive Care treatment.

After arriving at Baptist Hospital, she remained in the ICU for over 2 weeks. Martha has now made a full recovery. If the location had not opened a few weeks prior to his wife’s heart attack, Martha’s husband said he knows things could have been different.

ACHE of South Florida Installation of its 2020 Board of Directors

Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center Appoints New Chief Nursing Officer

Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center welcomes Denise Kvapil, MSN, BSN, as its new chief nursing officer.

Kvapil has over 20 years of experience in both nursing and other leadership roles. Prior to her appointment at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, Kvapil was the Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Officer for Carepoint Health System-Christ Hospital in Jersey City, NJ.

Denise is also a veteran serving in the United States Marines from 1986-to-1992 and rising to the rank of E-4 Corporal.

Kvapil holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Rutgers University in Newark, NJ. She then earned her Masters of Science in Nursing from South University.

Noel C. Pace, Esq. FACHE, has been Named Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and General Counsel for Therapies 4 Kids

Therapies 4 Kids (T4K) is proud to announce and welcome Noel Christian Pace, Esq., FACHE, as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and General Counsel.

Pace joins the T4K team from a multi-state healthcare law firm. Board-Certified in Healthcare Management and a Licensed Attorney in Florida, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., his practice focuses on compliance, regulatory, cyber, accreditation, and telemedicine issues. Pace’s experience also includes serving as a pediatric department administrator at an academic medical center and as executive director of various for-profit surgical centers. He also serves as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he recently served as Commander (CEO) of Florida’s 345th Combat Support Hospital (248-Bed) and now serves as the Executive Officer to the Deputy Commander, U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Central American, South America, and the Caribbean, where he specializes in emergency management and health diplomacy. Colonel Pace has served in Chile, Honduras, Korea, Kuwait, and during Operation Willing Spirit in Colombia and in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a recipient of the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat and Expert Field Medical Badges.

Pace holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Miami (UM) School of Law-Magna Cum Laude where he was President of the Health Law Association, a published member of the NSAC Law Review with his article on traumatic brain injury, and received the Innovation Award at UM Law’s Health Rights Clinic, which is a medical-legal partnership with the UM Miller School of Medicine. He is a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG) of Tulane University and holds a Masters in Health Administration from Baylor University, a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Denver, and a Masters in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College.

Lee Health Adds Operations Vice President for Lee Physician Group

Lee Health has promoted Terry Mainous to vice president of operations for Lee Physician Group (LPG).

Mainous joined Lee Physician Group in 2005 and has held various leadership roles over the past 15 years, most recently as system director of Ambulatory Nursing & Clinical Services. She has implemented key operational projects over the years, including the LPG nurse telephone triage program and LPG’s transitional care and patient outreach program.

Mainous holds a master’s degree in nursing from Indiana University and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Alpha Chapter. She has also held a Clinical Faculty appointment at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University and is a certified medical practice executive as well as a Lee Health “Lifetime Leader” President’s Circle Award winner.

Kidz Medical Services of Coral Gables Appoints Wayne Brackin CEO

Wayne Brackin has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Kidz Medical Services, which provides physician specialty services, pediatric emergency services and international air ambulance transportation.

From 2007-2018, Brackin served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Baptist Health South Florida. He was past CEO of South Miami Hospital, as well as CEO of Homestead Hospital.

In 2019, Brackin was appointed to the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates (MFA) Board of Directors. The MFA, the largest physician practice group in the Washington DC area, is affiliated with the GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Active in the community, Mr. Brackin is the Founding Chair of the South Miami Children’s Clinic, a pediatric clinic for underserved children in the City of South Miami, and a member of the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of South Miami.

Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital Now Seeing Patients in New ER Space

As part of its commitment to continue providing high-quality care to Treasure Coast residents, Cleveland Clinic Martin North Hospital has opened the first phase of its renovated emergency department.

Patients will now be seen in the newly renovated space, which will accommodate our growing community and provide an enhanced patient experience.

Phase I of the ED renovation offers a bright new space featuring larger, all-private exam rooms developed with patient comfort and safety in mind. It also was designed to create an efficient working area for caregivers.

The emergency department was relocated on Jan. 5 from its former location to the newly constructed area next door. The former emergency department location will be renovated over the next 10 months, with the second phase of the expansion expected to be complete by Fall 2020. When the expansion is finished, the transformed ED will be doubled in size.

The $20 million project was funded entirely by donations through the Cleveland Clinic Martin Health Foundation. The facility will be named the Gwen and Jules Knapp Emergency Center to honor the Knapps for their $3 million contribution toward the new emergency department.

FAU’s Online Graduate Nursing Program Soars to No. 7 in 2020 ‘U.S. News & World Report’ Rankings

Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing’s online master’s degree in nursing is ranked No. 7 in the nation for “Best Online Graduate Programs” in 2020 by U.S. News & World Report. The college soared to No. 7 from the No. 23 spot in 2019, and is the top-ranked program for private and public institutions in Florida. FAU’s College of Business, College of Education and overall online bachelor’s programs also made the list this year.

FAU’s College of Business is ranked No. 69 nationwide this year for the “Best Online MBA Programs” and No. 37 for the “Best Online Business Programs – non-MBA (e.g. accounting, finance and health administration). FAU’s online non-MBA business programs also are listed on the “Best Online Programs for Veterans in 2020.” The College of Education climbed to the No. 48 spot nationwide for the 2020 “Best Online Education Programs,” up from the No. 77 spot in 2019. In addition, FAU’s online bachelor’s programs ranked No. 73 in 2020, escalating from No. 233 in 2019.

“The rise in rankings of our online graduate programs is a testament to the caliber of our staff and faculty who lead and teach those programs and their and our students’ commitment to excellence,” said Safiya George, Ph.D., dean of FAU’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing. “Our college is grounded in caring science, which also extends to and is integrated into the delivery of our online graduate programs. Faculty, staff and students co-labor together to ensure a positive online learning experience, full engagement with the content and learning environment and mastery of content. A combination of exceptional talent, use of best practices, and great leadership from our associate dean for academic programs, Dr. Kay Edwards, and our assistant dean for graduate programs, Dr. Joy Longo, are the keys attributable to this success.”

Baptist Health Medical Group Welcomes Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Physician Karen Williams, MD, to Its Primary Care Team

Internal Medicine and Pediatrics physician Karen Williams, M.D., has joined Baptist Health Medical Group.

Dr. Williams received her medical degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo ― School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. She completed an internal medicine and pediatrics residency at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. She then joined Johns Hopkins Community Physicians in Odenton, MD., where she was a primary care physician. Most recently, Dr. Williams was a physician clinical specialist with the Maryland Department of Health, where she focused on tuberculosis control, refugee health and adolescent health.

Dr. Williams is Board-certified in internal medicine and pediatrics. She is a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Obesity Medicine Association and the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association.

Neurologist Joins the Palm Beach Neuroscience Institute in West Palm Beach

Tenet Florida Physician Services (TFPS) is pleased to announce Dr. Leila M. Patallo, a neurologist with nearly two decades of experience practicing neurology, has joined the Palm Beach Neuroscience Institute practice in West Palm Beach, FL. Dr. Patallo specializes in stroke, dizziness and vertigo, neuro-critical care, general neurology and neuro-hospital care. Dr. Patallo is on-staff at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, FL, and Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.

Prior to joining PBNI, Dr. Patallo worked the past five-years as a neurohospitalist at Holmes Regional Medical Center located in Melbourne, FL. She also has over a decade of experience working as a neurologist at Titusville Neurology, a private practice in Titusville, FL, and previously at the Neurophysiology Center as a neurologist in private practice in Tampa, FL.

For her education and training, Dr. Patallo completed a residency in neurology from New York Medical College, Westchester Medical Center located in Westchester, NY. In addition, Dr. Patallo completed an internship in internal medicine from the State University of New York, Brooklyn, NY/St. John’s Episcopal Hospital located in Far Rockaway, NY. Dr. Patallo completed medical school at the Medical Science Superior Institute, located in Havana, Cuba.

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