TAMPA, FL (June 16, 2022) – The USF Tampa General Physicians (USFTGP) has named Matthew Cantonis as its senior vice president of operations.

Launched in January 2022, USFTGP supports the administrative functions of the clinical practices of both the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and Tampa General Medical Group (TGMG). The creation of the organization follows nearly two years of transition planning since announcing the broadened affiliation in July 2020.

Matt Cantonis

Cantonis, who is a seasoned operational leader with more than 20 years of experience that includes inpatient and outpatient, service lines, and population health, joins USFTGP from San Diego, CA, where he worked for Scripps Health since 2011, most recently as assistant vice president for Clinical Service Lines and Accountable Care for Scripps Health.

“I am thrilled to welcome Matt back to Tampa, and to have him join our outstanding USFTGP senior leadership team,” said Mark G. Moseley, MD, president of USFTGP and vice dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. “His extensive operational experience will be a great fit for our new organization, and I am confident that he will help us achieve our goal of building a world-class physician practice infrastructure.”

“Raised in Tampa Bay, and after over a decade in San Diego with Scripps Health, I am honored to return to the region supporting USF Tampa General Physicians,” Cantonis said. “The organization is uniquely positioned to improve the quality, access and coordination of care within a community I love and make a meaningful difference in the lives of the patients it serves.”

Through coordinated services, USFTGP will help drive growth, improve quality, and increase access to world-class, academic medical care across the community, as well as serve as a recruiting tool for leading academic physicians from across the country. The new organization will further elevate the national reputation of both USF Health and TGH, which will help attract additional research dollars and support the economic engines of Tampa Bay’s health market.

USFTGP includes 1,400 team members who serve and support physicians employed by USF Health and TGMG, providing practice infrastructure, clinical management, and related operational and administrative support services. USFTGP also works with private practice physicians on staff at Tampa General to offer purchased services and management services through the new organization.

Chronic stress and burnout are prevalent among more than half of health care professionals, including medical students. That is why The International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) is now featuring a series of web seminars Jan. 5, Creating a Culture of Well-being at an Academic Health Center.

“We are trying to be more aware and increasingly proactive in identifying students who potentially display signs of burnout.” said Bryan Bognar, MD, vice dean for Educational Affairs at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine (MCOM).   “This seminar series is an opportunity for us to pause and reflect on these important topics that are of significant concern to all medical educators.”

Burnout is defined as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment leading to decreased effectiveness at work. Some key identifiers of burnout include excessive workload, an inefficient work environment and inability to maintain a health work-life balance.

A 2015 study by the American Medical Association and the Mayo Clinic concluded that burnout rates significantly rose in 2014 compared to 2011. Dr. Colin West, professor of medicine, medical education and biostatistics at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, called the burnout rate a “public health crisis” during a Jan. 5 web seminar. Statistics show that more than 500,000 medical professionals, across all disciplines, showed signs of burnout. Additionally, more than 40,000 cases were reported among medical students.

“Burnout is cyclical. To me, the only way to prevent burnout in medical school is to say ‘it’s okay for me to step away to do something I love that’s not related to medical school’,” said Vinodh Chandra, third-year medical student at MCOM. “This is an issue I’ve had to deal with personally. In my experience, it’s not just one single stressor at one point in time. It’s multiple demands and chronic demands that turn into perceived stressors that, over time, will wear someone out emotionally.”

One step MCOM has taken to prevent burnout is conducting the Collegia Olympics. Student groups will participate in a six-week competition designed to build healthy habits and promote healthy lifestyles. Groups have the opportunity to earn points by:

• Attending group fitness classes.
• Completing a resistance workout.
• Drinking eight cups of water per day.
• Walking 10,000 steps per day.
• Sleeping a minimum of seven hours
• Completing a physical exam or body composition exam.

Other services provided include an MCOM learning skills specialist, an aid for those experiencing academic challenges and who is readily available for students to talk to, and the USF Health Wellness Program.

“To be a good medical student and ultimately a good physician, building healthy habits and promoting healthy lifestyles are a must to prevent burnout and recover from burnout. However, identifying burnout is up to the students,” said Chandra. “Students need to be equipped with the knowledge and awareness to be able to identify burnout. The college does a tremendous job of providing resources to the students in order to address burnout.”

The IASME web seminars will continue every Thursday at noon until Feb. 2. The remaining sessions include incorporating mind-body medicine by Adi Haramati, PhD, and cultivating resilience by Michael Krasner, MD. Register for the seminars at http://bit.ly/IAMSE2017.

Story and photo by: Freddie Coleman, USF Health Office of Communications.

A new partnership between academic medicine and managed care will help patients with HIV/AIDS across central Florida gain better access to more coordinated and quality care. The USF Health Morsani College of Medicine has partnered with Clear Health Alliance, a Medicaid plan, to provide care that helps meet the more comprehensive and specialized needs of HIV patients’.

Helping to spread the message of improved care is basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who was diagnosed with HIV 22 years ago and now works to advocate and educate on issues of HIV/AIDS.

“We need partnerships like this to help bring (infection) numbers down and we need these places to be in the heart of the communities that need them,” Johnson said at a press conference announcing the partnership held Sept 17 at the University Area Community Center, near USF.

Earvin “Magic” Johnson (at podium) speaks to reporters with, from left, Dr. Douglas Holt, director of the USF Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine and director of the Hillsborough County Department of Health; Dan Jurman, executive director and CEO of the University Area Community Development Corp.; and Marianne Finizio, executive vice president of Clear Health Alliance.

The new program will make use of the extensive network of specialists in the USF Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine, with USF faculty physicians providing the primary care for Clear Health Alliance HIV/AIDS patients visiting the Hillsborough County Health Department Specialty Care Clinic.

Clear Health Alliance already partners with the University of Miami and reaches residents in three south Florida counties. The new partnership with USF Health came about after the Agency for Health Care Administration approved Clear Health Alliance for expanding services from south Florida to include the eight counties stretching across the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area.

“This is an important day,” Marianne Finizio, executive vice president of Clear Health Alliance. “We’re launching an alliance with the Morsani College of Medicine at USF with the goal of providing this population access to care. We’re truly excited about this expansion with USF and committed to serving this population.”

USF’s reputation gor excellence in HIV research and care, along with being the only academic medical center in the region, made it the right partner for this new program, said Douglas Holt, MD, director of the USF Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Infectious Disease and International Medicine, and director of the Hillsborough County Department of Health.

“USF has been a longtime academic leader in advancing HIV research and care, including contributing to discoveries that have led to more effective antiretroviral therapies,” Dr. Holt said. “We work closely with our community partners so anyone who is afflicted can get care. And while we’ve learned a lot so that people can survive, they have gone from surviving to thriving.”

Dr. Douglas Holt and Magic Johnson

Dr. Douglas Holt was interviewed by local media, including Bay News 9’s Dalia Dangerfield.

The reasons for choosing the program’s partners and basing it in Tampa also point to need. The area surrounding the University Area Community Center is impoverished, with 96 percent of the residents considered low income, averaging an annual income of only $9,500, said Dan Jurman, executive director and CEO of the University Area Community Development Corp.

“Events that are a struggle to others are devastating to these residents,” Jurman said. “And the number of cases of HIV in this area is only a little worse than those in Somalia.”

Twelve percent of Florida’s residents diagnosed with HIV live within the slightly more than 3 square miles surrounding Tampa’s University Area Community Center, near the University of South Florida.

Clear Alliance is the first and only Medicaid plan in the region with a designated specialty for HIV/AIDS. Plan members receive care from providers trained for HIV/AIDS care, as well as services from individually assigned, experienced HIV/AIDS care coordinators who guide them in their medical treatment and provide assistance in meeting other needs specific to their disease.

Johnson, who is an investor with Simply Healthcare, the parent company of Clear Health Alliance, works to ensure medical services reach ethnically diverse urban communities with high rates of new cases of HIV/AIDS.

Closing the press conference, Johnson said “I’m so impressed with this (University Area) Community Center, and with Dr. Holt and what he’s doing. It takes all of us to drive these numbers (of infections) down. But we still have a problem of people getting tested, so there much more work we still have to do. No one group can bring these numbers down. You have to come together and work together.”

When asked how he’s feeling and coping with this chronic disease, he smiled and said, “I take my meds, have a positive attitude, love to work out, and I have a grip on my condition. I’m going to live with HIV the rest of my life. Life for me is wonderful.”

Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Office of Communications

Photos by Aimee Blodgett, University Communications and Marketing 

When a subject line of an email reads “your patient Heather Glenday — Univ. of Tampa Swimmer” you pause.

Could this be sad news?

Luckily, it was wonderful news when Karl Illig, MD, professor of surgery and director of the USF Division of Vascular Surgery, opened such an email from his patient’s mother.

***

Photo by Andy Meng, UT

Last year, Heather Glenday, a swimmer for the University of Tampa, had a national title on the line when an odd feeling in her right arm slowed her training. A team trainer knew immediately by the swelling that the UT swimmer needed to get to the emergency room right away. At Tampa General Hospital, it was USF vascular surgeon Karl Illig, MD, who knew that Heather was experiencing Paget-Schroetter syndrome, a condition that causes a vein to be pinched off at the collarbone and upper rib. If left untreated, the vein could potentially clot off as the bone continues to crush the vein. For Heather, immediate surgery was necessary, which included removing that first rib.

Also called venous thoracic outlet syndrome (VTOS) and effort thrombosis, the uncommon condition affects only about 5,000 Americans every year, but is more common in high-performance athletes.

“It’s not unusual, and there is great success after treatment,” Dr. Illig said. “Surgery corrects the problem, with 95 percent of patients living a symptom-free life.”

***

After her surgery last year, Heather spent her summer recuperating at home in New York.

“I’m incredibly lucky to have connected with Dr. Illig, who had already treated patients with this,” she said. “When I went for follow-up exams back home to check the incisions, the doctor there said ‘Oh, you’re the first patient I’ve seen with Paget-Schroetter’s,’ which wasn’t too comforting. I’m so lucky to have found Dr. Illig.”

By fall, Heather returned to UT – she’s a junior studying accounting – and was back in the pool.

And that brings us back to Dr. Illig’s email.

Heather’s mother, Maureen Glenday, was sharing the good news with Dr. Illig that the young swimmer had not only recovered and returned to the pool, but that she was fast enough to help UT earn four NCAA trophies: two for relays and two for individual events.

Here’s what Maureen wrote to Dr. Illig in March.

***

Heather saw Dr. Illig’s this April at the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare for her one-year follow-up exam. The ultrasound showed all was well and he gave her a full release, although annual check-ups for the next couple of years are expected.

As a thank you, Heather presented Dr. Illig with a University of Tampa Spartans hat.

***

As if a story of a patient succeeding in life isn’t enough, another caveat is that Heather’s story ties together so many areas of expertise found in Tampa. It’s a story of a community of expert institutions coming together and providing the best care possible. Here are the players:

– University of Tampa has a title-winning swim team.

– Well trained athletic trainer recognizes symptoms and acts quickly to get the student to emergency room.

– Tampa General Hospital is affiliated with the USF Morsani College of Medicine, the region’s only academic medical center.

– Dr. Karl Illig has seen and treated this condition before in his training at academic medical centers.

***

To see Heather Glenday winning a 800 yard freestyle relay title for UT post-surgery, check out this video.  Choose the 2013 DII Swimming & Diving Day 3, Evening Session: Full Replay (2:47:18) option and go to about 132/167.1.

Story by Sarah A. Worth, photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Office of Communications

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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