As 2013 winds down and USF Health  moves into 2014,  we reflects on some highlights and accomplishments over the past year.

And, we look ahead in the New Year to renewing our commitment and efforts to improve life in the Tampa Bay area and around the world — through education, research, service and patient care.

The University of South Florida broke ground for its USF Health Heart Institute, a $50-million proposed facility that will combine advanced research and technology with the best cardiovascular care to benefit patients with heart disease, diabetes and stroke.  USF Health will continue working with governmental, hospital and community partners to make the institute a reality.

The USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS), the world’s largest freestanding center of its kind, passed its first year with more than 14,000 learners from all 50 states and more than 60 countries. CAMLS completed a feasibility study with Panama to build a CAMLS-like facility and is also exploring expanding its academic entrepreneurial business model to Brazil, Mexico and Lebanon.  Healthcare professionals and students aren’t the only beneficiaries of CAMLS’  leading-edge, extensive resources for simulated learning.   In December, the USF Health doctors at CAMLS teamed up with the Florida Aquarium to help diagnose an injured sea turtle, Freud.

The USF College of Nursing continued to attract international attention for its research and education to benefit veterans and service members.  Recently published research by a USF Nursing faculty team suggests accelerated resolution therapy (ART), a brief new therapy to ease symptoms of psychological trauma, may be an option for veterans who do not respond optimally to conventional therapies endorsed by the Department of Defense and VA.  The college began its fourth and largest ART study, which will recruit 200 veterans and service members to study the cost-effectiveness of the therapy and further examine how and why it works. The college also received the largest of nine federal grants to help veterans with healthcare skills earn a bachelor of science degree in nursing.

The Florida Covering Kids & Families program at the Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, USF College of Public Health, this summer received the largest navigator grant in Florida – and second largest in the country.  The one-year $4.2-million federal grant to help eligible uninsured individual get health care through the Health Insurance Marketplace drew widespread media attention to the USF navigators and their partners statewide. National coverage included stories in the News York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Associated Press, TIME magazine, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch.

The USF Health Diabetes Home for Healthy Living opened in August, ushering a new approach to diabetes care.  The new one-stop facility in the Westshore area of Tampa offers diabetes patients a relaxing, home-like environment with every aspect of care to successfully and proactively manage their chronic condition.  The medical home is the newest addition to USF’s leading research, education and clinical care initiatives making life better for those with chronic illnesses like diabetes.

USF President Judy Genshaft appointed Donna Petersen, ScD,  and Harry van Loveren, MD, interim leaders of USF Health after healthcare innovator Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health, was named to lead a prominent Philadelphia university and hospital system.   Dr. Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health, serves as interim CEO of USF Health, and Dr. van Loveren, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, as interim dean of the Morsani College of Medicine, while the national search for USF Health’s next CEO and medical school dean continues.

The USF College of Pharmacy continued to advance on a fast track as it grows toward a projected complement of 400 students. The incoming College of Pharmacy Class of 2017 represented the largest class in the highly competitive school’s short history – with 107 students selected from among 800 applicants. This past summer the college — with an innovative, rigorous curriculum emphasizing a collaborative approach to patient care and research — was awarded accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

The Doctors of USF Health campaign introduced this spring informed patients and families across the region that the region’s only academic medical center provides access to the most advanced health care available.  The brand identity linked to USF Health’s launch of a newly designed patient care website with access to nearly 400 highly specialized healthcare professionals.

The first class of USF SELECT students, having completed their first two years of learning at the Morsani College of Medicine, moved to Allentown, PA, to begin two years of clinical education at Lehigh Valley Health Network.  The innovative program, which welcomed its charter class in Fall 2011,  gives students unique training in leadership development, intense coaching, and the scholarly tools they need to become empathetic, passionate physician leaders who will be catalysts for change.

Construction began in March on the USF Health Specialty Care Center in The Villages, setting the stage for a new era and range of health care for residents of “America’s Healthiest Hometown,” the nation’s largest community of people over 55. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Jan. 24, 2014, for the 25,000-square-foot facility, designed as a collaborative complement to The Villages’ expanding primary care network. USF Health doctors representing several specialties will provide high-level care at the new center,

A new master’s degree program in Physician Assistant Studies, based in the Morsani College of Medicine, was approved by the USF Board of Trustees in March 2013. The first class for the interprofessional, two-year PA program will start Summer 2015, initially accepting 24 students, with plans to increase that capacity. The program is an important step forward in addressing the state’s increasing shortage of primary care practitioners.

Tampa General Hospital approved a new long-term affiliation agreement with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. The “evergreen” agreement automatically renews each year.  The strengthened partnership will help Tampa Bay’s only quaternary hospital and its only academic medical center to enhance what both institutions do best:  provide leading care for patients and teaching and training opportunities for residents and students.

The USF School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences and the University of West Florida announced a physical therapy partnership program that will offer a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree in Pensacola. The collaborative program, approved by the Florida Board of Governors in January 2013, will start in Summer 2014.  It will expand access to UWF students interested in pursuing a DPT and help meet a state-identified need for more physical therapists in a largely rural region of the state.  USF Physical Therapy also continues to lay the foundation for a new PhD program in Rehabilitation Sciences, which was approved by the USF Board of Trustees in December.

The USF College of Public Health greeted new students this fall with a record number of online offerings. Demand for the college’s online public health degree programs has exploded this year — with enrollment more than doubling since the middle of the last decade. The college’s advances in distance learning have been noted in the Guide to Online Schools, which uses data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics to rank colleges with the best quality and most affordable online programs. USF Health is home to the nation’s first online master’s degree in health informatics and to seven online master’s degree programs in public health.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

RELATED STORY:
Top 10 USF Health news and social media hits of 2013

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By Jeff Lowenkron, MD

Over the next few weeks, millions of people driving Interstate 275 northbound by downtown Tampa will see a billboard that re-introduces USF Health to the Tampa Bay community as Doctors of USF Health.

This billboard signifies the launch of our campaign to inform patients and families throughout the area that Doctors of USF Health provides them access to the most advanced health care available.

The campaign – sometimes subtle, sometimes not so subtle – will remind everyone we are this region’s only academic medical center, a competitive advantage that benefits patients and the community.

Here’s how academic medicine matters:

• Better outcomes: National studies show that patients tend to fare better at academic medical centers, which typically treat some of the sickest patients and toughest medical cases. Access to that care is through the many USF Health Centers for Advanced Health Care and hospitals that are linked to the Morsani College of Medicine.
• Newest knowledge: Nearly every medicine, treatment and cure we know can trace its origin to an academic medical center. As part of an academic medical center, Doctors of USF Health provides the most current health care available, an advantage few other physician groups can offer.
• More expertise:  Doctors of USF Health has more than 400 highly specialized healthcare professionals who know today what other doctors will read about in the future.

What does being an academic medical center mean?

It means our faculty, residents, students and staff are part of a multi-disciplinary engine providing the best care possible to families throughout central Florida. It means we are part of the pioneering advances in medicine, scientific research, and patient care emanating from USF Health. It means USF Health  plays a vital role in educating tomorrow’s physicians, nurses, pharmacists, researchers, physical therapists, and public health professionals.

The billboard is just part of the campaign that is delivering a consistent message that fits our long-term strategy. Why did we focus on Doctors?  To make it more personalized, to provide more of a connection with patients, and to point out our greatest strength, that as an academic medical center, we make unmatched contributions to the health and well-being of the community.

Our brand identity links to the launch of our newly designed patient care website. The pages offer a more robust format and improved patient-centered interface. It even has a great video of our own //www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdjiT0dhOPE

Kira Zwygart, interim chair of Family Medicine, describing perfectly the importance of academic medicine and what our type of center means to patients and families in this community.

As the campaign moves forward, there will be other  tangible signs of strategic marketing to reinforce our message around our competitive advantage, and we’ll share the new components with you as they roll out.

But, for the next few weeks, check out the new billboard at the junction of Interstate 4 and Interstate 275. You’ll see we’re not shy about telling the world the best care is right here.

Dr. Lowenkron is the CEO for Doctors of USF Health

Click on this image and download a PDF file of our internal poster and share.

-Video by Allyn DiVito, USF Health Information Systems

This year, more USF Health physicians than ever are transforming the health care of residents throughout the Tampa Bay area, as the 2012 Best Doctors in America®  list clearly shows.

Thirty-six percent of the local physicians who made the latest Best Doctors in America®  list work at USF Health.

Add to that the volunteer and affiliate faculty (those who teach medical students and residents several times each year) and the Morsani College of Medicine alumni in private practice locally, and the percent skyrockets to 69 percent, more than two-thirds of the of entire local list.

The annual list for Best Doctors in America is compiled from surveys of physicians asking them who they would go to for treatment in their specialty. The result is a national listing of 45,000 physicians in more than 40 specialties.

Locally, the USF totals went up in all three areas: on-staff faculty, volunteer faculty, and alumni (MD degree program, as well as graduates from USF resident physician and fellowship programs).

This year, the list included 594 physicians from the Tampa Bay area. Of that, 212 are full-time, courtesy, or adjunct physicians for USF. The list also included 102 physicians who are volunteer and affiliate faculty members for USF, and 132 alumni of the USF Morsani College of Medicine (many alumni are also faculty – those numbers are not double counted in the overall total), bringing the total to 407 physicians (69 percent) who have a connection with USF Health.

“Clearly, USF is a force in local health care,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the USF College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health.

“As USF Health transforms health care in this region, it’s because of the quality of our faculty and our alumni. These totals say a lot about the caliber of expertise found at USF Health, this region’s only academic medical center. The totals also show how so many of the USF’s medical alumni are still in the local area, reconfirming the fact that physicians tend to remain in the areas where they are trained.”

The following is a list of physicians included in the 2012 Best Doctors in America® who have a connection to USF Health. Some physicians earned spots in more than one specialty, so are listed multiple times.

Allergy and Immunology
Morna Jean Dorsey
Roger Williams Fox
Mark Christian Glaum
Alan Barton Halsey
Craig Andrew Kalik
Dennis K. Ledford
Richard F. Lockey
Daniel A. Reichmuth
Mitchel Seleznick
Mandel Reid Sher

Anesthesiology
Alan David Almengual
Benjamin Contreras
Sarat B. Lingam
Devanand Mangar
Rafael Miguel
Jacinto Moya
Emery Navori
David Jeffrey Samuels
Brooke Williams

Cardiovascular Disease
Fadi A. Matar
Debbie Rinde-Hoffman
Dany Edward Sayad
John Thompson Sullebarger

Colon and Rectal Surgery
Jorge E. Marcet

Critical Care Medicine
W. McDowell Anderson
Attila Becsey
Jonathan B. Cohen
Theron Arthur Ebel
Allan L. Goldman
Albert S.M. Kabemba
Marian Menezes
Ralph E. Robertson
Mark Rumbak
Daniel Jacob Schwartz
John (Hans) Schweiger
David Allan Solomon
Frank W. Walsh

Dermatology
Teresa Pullara Brandt
Basil S. Cherpelis
James B. Connors
Peter A. Donelan
Lowella E. Esperanza
Neil Alan Fenske
John Robert Hamill, Jr.
Timothy Francis Kelly
Kathleen Leber
Nancy Ling
Christopher G. Nelson
Stacy Perez
Philip D. Shenefelt

Family Medicine
Colin S. Beach
Harrison James Brownlee, Jr.
Adam A. Brunson
Sean T. Bryan
Eric Emmanuel Coris
Thomas E. Esposito
Eduardo C. Gonzalez
Richard J. Ina
Paul Lewis
Candice C. Linton
Dolores K. Lowe
John V. Murray, Jr.
Michele D. Pescasio
Joel S. Prawer
Cheryl Reed
Richard G. Roetzheim
Robert B. Rosequist
Joseph P. Springle
Frank Allan Thompson
Ronald Vicencio
Laurie J. Woodard
Kira Katherine Zwygart

Gastroenterology
Patrick G. Brady
Joseph S. Caradonna
Jay J. Mamel
Haim Pinkas
Joel E. Richter

Geriatric Medicine
Claudia Beghé-Balducci
June Y. Leland
Hae Kyoung Park

Geriatric Medicine/Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Jonathan Taylor Stewart

Hand Surgery
Robert John Belsole
John M. Rayhack
Jeffrey D. Stone

Infectious Disease
Lindell A. Busciglio
Margarita Rosa Cancio
Beata C. Casanas
Sandra Gompf
John N. Greene
Douglas Allen Holt
Cynthia Mayer
Jose Montero
Richard Oehler
Jose R. Prieto
John Thomas Sinnott
Charurut Somboonwit
John Toney
Todd S. Wills

Internal Medicine
Erika Abel
Bryan Bognar
Kent R. Corral
Mark Allen Davis
Angela L. Denietolis
Denise K. Edwards
Geoffrey S. Greene
Kathleen Moss Grizzard
Carol A. Hodges
Jeffrey A. Kooper
Hugo J. Narvarte
Kevin O’Brien
Lucila Ramiro
Mayra Rivera
Elizabeth A. Warner
David Weiland
Susan M. Zimmer

Internal Medicine/Hospital Medicine
Michael T. Flannery
Deborah A. Humphrey
Jose (Joe) L. Lezama, Jr.
Cuc Thi Mai
Alexander Reiss

Medical Oncology and Hematology
Khaldoun Almhanna
Melissa Alsina
Claudio Anasetti
Lodovico Balducci
William S. Dalton
Ronald C. DeConti
Martine Extermann
Hugo F. Fernandez
Hyo (Heather) S. Han
Eric B. Haura
Julie A. Kish
Larry K. Kvols
Alan F. List
Susan Minton
Javier Pinilla-Ibarz
Lubomir Sokol
Daniel M. Sullivan
Jeffrey S. Weber
Kenneth S. Zuckerman

Nephrology
Denise Y. Alveranga

Neurological Surgery
Siviero Agazzi
Thomas B. Freeman
Mark Greenberg
Donald A. Smith
Fernando L. Vale
Harry R. Van Loveren

Neurology
Selim Ramin Benbadis
Steven R. Cohen
Robert A. Hauser
Juan R. Sanchez-Ramos
Stephen M. Sergay
Paul R. Winters

Nuclear Medicine
Dwight Achong
Claudia G. Berman

Obstetrics and Gynecology
Jeffrey L. Angel
Ignacio Armas
Madelyn Butler
Sheila Connery
Steven D. Gitomer
Steven L. Greenberg
Mitchel S. Hoffman
Suzanne T. Icely
Michael W. Jaeger
Galen Bruce Jones
Mary Lee Josey
Patricia L. Judson
Craig S. Kalter
Kathleen Kilbride
Johnathan Lancaster
Judette Marie Louis
Catherine M. Lynch
James C. Mayer
Joan McCarthy
Valerie C. Mechanik
Anthony M. Messina
Anna Kristina Parsons
Michael Thomas Parsons
Shayne M. Plosker
Bruce D. Shephard
Barry Stephen Verkauf
James C. Von Thron
W. Gregory Wilkerson
J. Kell Williams
Jerome (Jerry) Yankowitz

Ophthalmology
Craig Berger
Leonard Edward Cortelli, Jr.
Mitchell D. Drucker
Lewis Groden
Scott E. Pautler
Peter Reed Pavan
Thomas J. Pusateri
David W. Richards
Charles B. Slonim
Ivan J. Suner

Orthopaedic Surgery
Richard V. Abdo
Thomas L. Bernasek
Brett R. Bolhofner
William G. Carson, Jr.
Antonio E. Castellvi
Mark A. Frankle
Seth I. Gasser
Thomas L. Greene
Kenneth A. Gustke
Dolfi Herscovici, Jr.
Anthony F. Infante, Jr.
George Douglas Letson
Mark A. Mighell
Heidi Multhopp Stephens
Glenn R. Rechtine II
Henry Claude Sagi
Roy W. Sanders
Michael J. Shereff
Arthur K. Walling
Marc A. Weinstein

Otolaryngology
Loren J. Bartels
Kestutis Paul Boyev
Christopher J. Danner
James N. Endicott
Joseph B. Farrior III
Douglas W. Klotch
Judith Czaja McCaffrey
Thomas Vincent McCaffrey
Tapan Ashvin Padhya
Mark Tabor
Daniel Vincent

Pathology
L. Frank Glass
Jane Messina
Michael Morgan*
Santo V. Nicosia

Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
Alan Barton Halsey
Craig Andrew Kalik
Mandel Reid Sher
John W. Sleasman

Pediatric Anesthesiology
George Garcia Alvarez
Glenn C. Vaughn

Pediatric Cardiology
Alfred Asante-Korang
Michael L. Epstein
Jorge Manuel Giroud
James Gifford Henry
Richard Manuel Martinez
Jorge McCormack

Pediatric Critical Care
David Seth Cooper
Perry Boyd Everett
John C. Haffner
David Pettigrew
Daniel J. Plasencia
Dan Riggs
Albert Saltiel
Richard E. Weibley

Pediatric Developmental and Behavioral Problems
Carol Lilly

Pediatric Endocrinology
Terry J. DeClue
E. Verena Jorgensen
Henry Rodriguez
Dorothy I. Shulman

Pediatric Gastroenterology
Daniel T. McClenathan
Michele P. Winesett

Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Jerry L. Barbosa
Gregory A. Hale
Michael L. Nieder

Pediatric Infectious Disease
David Michael Berman
Juan Dumois
Jorge Lujan-Zilbermann

Pediatric Nephrology
Alfonso Campos
Valerie M. Panzarino
Sharon A. Perlman

Pediatric Neurological Surgery
Sarah J. Gaskill
Arthur E. Marlin

Pediatric Ophthalmology
Derek B. Hess

Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery
Scott Warren Beck
Alfred V. Hess
Jeffrey B. Neustadt

Pediatric Otolaryngology
Thomas M. Andrews
Wade Russell Cressman
Karin S. Hotchkiss
Peter W. Orobello, Jr.

Pediatric Plastic Surgery
Ernesto Ruas

Pediatric Pulmonology
Tony Kriseman

Pediatric Rheumatology
Mandel Reid Sher
John W. Sleasman

Pediatric Specialist/Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Jeffrey L. Alvaro
Michael Bengtson
Glenn Catalano
Mark A. Cavitt
Steven Noah Kanfer
Tanya K. Murphy
Kailie R. Shaw
Saundra Stock

Pediatric Specialist/Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
Anthony E. Napolitano, Jr.
Lewis P. Rubin
Roberto A. Sosa

Pediatric Specialist/Neurology, General
Maria A. Gieron-Korthals
J. Richard Gunderman
Steven Parrish Winesett

Pediatric Surgery
Charles Paidas

Pediatric Urology
Yves L. Homsy
E. Michael Reisman

Pediatrics/General
Melody M. Baade
Lori A. Bowers
Christina J. Canody
Jose E. Colon
Sharon M. Dabrow
Gabriele Hosemann
Gerard R. Hough
Patricia L. Jeansonne
Karalee Kulek-Luzey
Mudra K. Kumar
Katherine Lewis
Carol Lilly
Fred I. Lipschutz
Hugo J. Narvarte
Pamela M. Patranella
Emily T. Perkins
Lorinda J. Price
Domenick P. Reina
Christopher D. Reiner
Jennifer Cohen Takagishi
Ignatius I. Tan
Christopher L. Tappan
Margarita P. Torres

Pediatrics/Hospital Medicine
Dipti Patel Amin
Antoinette C. Spoto-Cannons

Plastic Surgery
Edward H. Farrior
Ernesto Ruas
Karen E. Wells

Psychiatry
Jeffrey L. Alvaro
Glenn Catalano
Maria C. Catalano
Mark A. Cavitt
Francisco Fernandez
Laura Grimsich
Jaffrey Hashimie
Steven Noah Kanfer
Patrick Marsh
Tanya K. Murphy
Pauline S. Powers
Sarah Reading
Deborah C. Roth
Orlando Ruano
Deborah Sanchez
Amanda Grant Smith
Jonathan Taylor Stewart

Pulmonary Medicine
W. Michael Alberts
W. McDowell Anderson
Allan L. Goldman
Daniel Lorch
Marian Menezes
Richard S. Powell
Mark Rumbak
Daniel Jacob Schwartz
David Allan Solomon
Frank W. Walsh

Radiation Oncology
Harvey M. Greenberg
Sarah Hoffe
James L. Pearlman
Andrea (Andy) Trotti III

Radiology
John A. Arrington
Gregg A. Baran
Junsung Choi
Lynn Coppage
Robert (Bob) Jay Entel
Carlos R. Martinez
Frederick Reed Murtagh
Bruce R. Zwiebel

Rheumatology
John D. Carter
Laura Cruse
Dennis K. Ledford
Anthony Sebba
Mitchel Seleznick
Kimberly M. Smith
Joanne Valeriano-Marcet

Sleep Medicine
W. McDowell Anderson*
Daniel Lorch
Richard S. Powell
Daniel Jacob Schwartz

Surgery
Michael H. Albrink
Angel E. Alsina
Sylvia Deal Campbell
Charles E. Cox
Steven B. Goldin
James M. Hurst
Richard Clemens Karl
Christine Laronga
John Leone
Michel Murr
Ernest C. Rehnke
Terry E. Wright

Surgical Oncology
W. Bradford Carter
Charles E. Cox
C. Wayne Cruse
Richard Clemens Karl
Mokenge P. Malafa
Douglas S. Reintgen
David Shibata
Vernon K. Sondak
Jonathan Scott Zager

Thoracic Surgery
Keith Eric Sommers

Urology
Rafael Carrion
Mohamed A. Helal
Jorge L. Lockhart
Frank D. Mastandrea
Julio M. Pow-Sang

Vascular Surgery
Martin R. Back
John L. Driscoll
Brad Larvin Johnson
John Leone
Ernest C. Rehnke
Murray L. Shames