Participating in the celebration at Delray Medical Center were (l-r) Dr. Richard Kim, cardiologist, Dr. Brij Maini, cardiologist, and Dr. Erik Beyer, cardiothoracic surgeon. Photo provided
By Christine Davis
The Palm Beach Health Network hospitals, including Delray Medical Center, celebrated National Doctors’ Day in March, and this year’s theme was “Thank you for your extraordinary strength, courage and dedication.”
“On behalf of all our governing board members and all of our employees, I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to our physicians, the leaders of health care in Palm Beach County,” said Maggie Gill, chief executive officer of the Palm Beach Health Network and Delray Medical Center.
“I believe strongly in the value of saying thank you every day, but this national observance falls during a time when we are all working tirelessly to bring this pandemic to an end, all while ensuring our hospitals are safe. We pause to honor the contributions of our physicians for their dedication to the health and wellness of our community.”
Delray Medical Center now offers the Navio orthopedic system to help surgeons perform knee replacements using the Journey Uni knee. With no preoperative CT scan required, the surgeon collects anatomical data during the procedure to build a 3D model of the patient’s knee. This information helps the surgeon place the implant and balance the knee’s ligaments for optimal alignment.
“This technology is going to give patients less pain and swelling post-operatively than traditional total joint replacement methods,” said Maggie Gill, the medical center’s chief executive officer.
Neurosurgeons Frank Vrionis, M.D., and Timothy Miller, M.D., of Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Baptist Health’s Boca Raton Regional Hospital, performed their first robotic-assisted spine surgery, the hospital said in March.
The patient, a man in his 70s, underwent a minimally invasive spinal fusion to stabilize the lumbar area of his back using the Mazor X robotic guidance platform.
“Robotics allow us to perform minimally invasive surgeries with increased safety and precision, leading to less blood loss, less post-operative pain and faster recovery,” said Vrionis, the institute’s director. “With our new sophisticated robotic system, we will be able to perform more minimally invasive procedures safely and effectively. This is particularly beneficial to our aging population, because it reduces the risk of infection and shortens hospital stays.”
JFK Medical Center was recognized by Healthgrades as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for orthopedic surgery. In addition, it received the Five-Star Orthopedic Excellence Award as well as the Five-Star Joint Replacement Excellence Award for clinical excellence.
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Schmidt College of Medicine, in collaboration with an international team of scientists, have determined that a family history of early cardiac events indicates a major risk factor for close relatives such as parents or siblings — especially for premature events.
Data on risks in close relatives of patients with a family history had been sparse prior to their study.
The team assembled a consecutive series of 230 patients with premature onset of heart attacks, strokes, angina or peripheral artery disease and a comparison group of apparently healthy men and women during a 24-month period.
The comparison group had no family or personal history of cardiovascular disease and had normal electrocardiograms, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressures and glucose. Researchers defined a premature event as occurring in men 60 years or younger and in women 65 years or younger.
“Our data indicate that early cardiac events pose major and different risks in close relatives,” said Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.PH., senior author and senior academic adviser in FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine. “Since families share more than genes, not surprisingly, these data are compatible with a role for both genetic and environmental factors.”
The data, published in the International Journal of Cardiology, also suggest that first-degree relatives of patients with premature heart attacks compared with those presenting with a first episode of chronic stable angina or peripheral vascular disease have a shorter survival time.
Patients with heart attacks and chronic stable angina reported significantly higher frequencies of attacks in their first-degree relatives than patients with peripheral vascular disease.
In contrast, patients with chronic stable angina and peripheral vascular disease reported significantly higher frequencies of chronic stable angina and peripheral vascular disease, respectively, in their first-degree relatives compared to patients with heart attacks.
The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County will present “Conversations with the League: Medicaid Expansion Florida” at 6 p.m. May 5, with guest speakers who are co-chairs of the league’s health care issue group.
They are Nancy Gau, a retired clinical laboratory director who serves on the board of the Palm Beach County Alliance for Mental Health, and Dr. Brent Schillinger, a dermatologist, past president of the Palm Beach County Medical Society, and a member of its COVID-19 Pandemic Response Task Force. He currently chairs the society’s opioid health care response team.
They will speak on the effort to expand Medicaid in Florida, give an update on how the effort failed in the 2021 legislative session and outline the next steps.
To connect with this Zoom chat, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85845235206?pwd=VDhac2V3b0lETGVjVk5pdDhqZ3p0QT09
Send health news to Christine Davis at cdavis9797@gmail.com.
Comments