The Villages (Jan. 24, 2014) –  USF Health is now providing a broad range of specialty care – from orthopaedics to endocrinology – in north central Florida as it opens the USF Health Specialty Care Center, a giant step forward in creating a new model of coordinated health care in what is becoming “America’s Healthiest Hometown®.”

Cutting the ribbon at the opening of the USF Health Specialty Care Center with USF President Judy Genshaft, center, were, from left to right, USF Trustee Scott Hopes; Florida Senator Alan Hays; USF Trustee Nancy Watkins, Gary Lester, vice president of community relations, The Villages; Dr. Elliot Sussman, chair of The Villages Health; Donna Petersen, ScD, interim senior vice president, USF Health, and dean, College of Public Health; and Dr. Jeffrey Lowenkron, CEO, USF Physicians Group.

USF Health has opened the center as part of its statewide initiative to help provide residents of The Villages, the nation’s largest community of people over 55, with all the tools they need to live more active and healthy lives. Residents of The Villages will have access to high-level care from the best academic specialists just a few steps away from their homes.

“We’re excited to see USF Health extending the benefits of an academic health center – all the latest, most cutting-edge research, education and care – to serve residents in a new region of Florida,” said USF President Judy Genshaft, who spoke at this morning’s ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

L to R: Speakers USF President Judy Genshaft, Dr. Elliot Sussman of The Villages Health, and Dr. Jeff Lowenkron and Dr. Donna Petersen, both of USF Health.

USF Health has opened the 25,000 square foot center in partnership with The Villages Health, which is opening a series of primary care centers throughout The Villages. The partnership and its centers are designed to give patients a seamless and coordinated model of care.

The new centers are part of a partnership that extends beyond clinical care. USF Health also offers health seminars, assessments and other services in The Villages and is conducting groundbreaking public health research there.

“What makes this center so wonderful is that it truly began with residents of The Villages,” said Donna Petersen, ScD, MHS, CPH, interim senior vice president of USF Health. “It began as we built our partnership with this community. We asked residents, ‘What do you need to improve your health?’ And you shared your vision. You want a more coordinated network. You want a healthcare system that works for you – not one where you have to ‘work the system.’ We set out to create the patient-centered medical home of the future in The Villages.”

Despite the chilly weather, the celebration attracted a crowd — including university, community and government leaders.

That focus on the patient is at the core of the health partnership, said Dr. Elliot Sussman, chair of The Villages Health.

“We’re already hearing great things from our patients about the opportunity to visit the USF Health Specialty Care Center,” Dr. Sussman said. “Having specialists aligned with USF Health available right here in The Villages is vital to our patients’ health, convenience and peace of mind. We look forward to working with the health professionals at the Specialty Care Center to provide our patients with a full range of health care and services just a few steps away from home.”

Center Director Barbara Bowman-Wheatley, right, leads a tour of the new facility.

Dr. Jeff Lowenkron, CEO of the USF Physicians’ Group, thanked the The Villages Health and the larger community for forming a unique alliance with USF Health.

“We believe it will be creative partnerships that provide insight into solutions that improve health care in the future,” he said. “As we seek to help make The Villages ‘America’s Healthiest Hometown,’ we want to collaborate with our primary care partners and deliver specialty care that is built around the needs of the patient. This care will be integrated and coordinated by design, not by accident.”

L to R: Sumpter County Commissioner Don V. Hahnfeldt, chair of the Central Florida Health Alliance; USF President Judy Genshaft; Florida Senator Alan Hays; and Dr. Jeff Lowenkron, CEO of the USF Physicians Group.

The center offers 32 exam rooms, four procedure rooms and gives health professionals the ability to perform a wide variety of procedures and tests on site. Tests available soon will include laboratory work, ultrasound, stress echocardiography and cardio nuclear stress tests. Specialties currently offered at the center include: obstetrics and gynecology; cardiothoracic surgery; plastic & reconstructive surgery; orthopaedic surgery; endocrinology; and general surgery.

Work on the Specialty Care Center project began after USF’s College of Public Health conducted a record-setting survey of the Villagers, asking about their health needs and goals. About 34,000 Villagers responded, making this the largest such survey of an aging population. The survey will yield national recommendations for healthy aging, and was used in planning the Specialty Care Center. Villagers surveyed showed a high level of interest in a model that provides coordinated care and gives them a medical home.

Click here for more information on the USF Health Specialty Care Center.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

-USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a Top 50 research university in total research expenditures among both public and private institutions nationwide, according to the National Science Foundation.

Media contact:
Lisa Greene, USF Health Communications
(813) 974-4312 or lgreene@health.usf.edu

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THE VILLAGES, FL (March 11, 2013) – Construction began Monday morning on the new USF Health Specialty Care Center in The Villages, setting the stage for a new era and range of health care available for residents in “America’s Healthiest Hometown.”

Once the center opens in October, residents of The Villages, the nation’s largest community of people over 55, will be able to receive high-level care from faculty physicians who operate at the forefront of medical knowledge. USF Health doctors who represent several specialties will be providing care at the 25,000 square foot facility.

The center is designed as a collaborative complement to The Villages Health primary care network, which is now expanding and will soon operate seven different offices in The Villages for residents to choose from, allowing them to receive the best health care without leaving their neighborhood.

USF President Judy Genshaft visited the center for groundbreaking ceremonies Monday morning, along with Trustees Hal Mullis and Debbie Sembler.

“Today marks a great step on our journey to creating a whole new model of health care here in ‘America’s Healthiest Hometown,’ The Villages,” said President Genshaft.

The unique partnership provides a model for comprehensive care that is truly centered around the patient, said Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, dean of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and CEO of USF Health.

“Working together, we will be able to provide better health for The Villagers over the entire spectrum of care,” Dr. Klasko said. “Villagers will have a medical home with a patient-centered primary network, access to the best academic specialists, and technology services that include shared electronic records and telehealth opportunities. The mission of USF Health is “making life better” and this partnership will be an embodiment of that mission.”

The partnership between The Villages and USF Health is a great model for how academic medicine can improve health, said Elliot Sussman, MD, MBA, chair of The Villages Health.

Monday’s groundbreaking: Dr. Steve Klasko, USF President Judy Genshaft, Dr. Elliot Sussman, Trustee Debbie Sembler, Trustee Hal Mullis

“We are delighted to have our great primary care doctors working with the specialty physicians of USF Health,” Dr. Sussman said. “This partnership will give Villagers access to seamless care that starts with having a Villages Health doctor who knows them and their medical history and can provide top-notch regular care. When they need a specialist, that doctor can connect them to a network of specialists offering the most cutting-edge treatments right here in The Villages.”

Work on the Specialty Care Center project began after USF’s College of Public Health conducted a record-setting survey of the Villagers, asking about their health needs and goals. More than 37,000 Villagers responded, making this the largest such survey of an aging population.

“We found what was working and what wasn’t and what you need to be at your best and healthiest,” Dr. Klasko told the crowd Monday morning.

The survey, which won the Erickson Award for Excellence in Research, will yield national recommendations for healthy aging. It is already being used in planning the Specialty Care Center. Villagers surveyed showed a high level of interest in a model that provides coordinated care and gives them a medical home.

“We’re bringing back the days of Marcus Welby, when physicians work together with one goal — making you healthier,” Dr. Klasko said.

After Monday’s groundbreaking, President Genshaft, the Trustees, and Dr. Klasko joined Dr. Sussman, Dr. Joseph Hildner, chief medical officer of The Villages Health on a tour of the new primary care center run by The Villages Health.

The center features rocking chairs out front, “visit rooms” instead of exam rooms and special space dedicated to patient education. Everything is designed with patients in mind, Dr. Hildner said.

Dr. Sussman and Dr. Hildner talk about their vision for primary care with patients at the center.

“It’s a welcoming, friendly place to go to,” he said. “It’s not the usual experience of going to your doctor…and you’re never more than a 10-minute golf cart ride away.”

Dr. Jeff Lowenkron, CEO of the USF Physicians Group, talks about the new USF Health Specialty Care Center in The Villages.

The patient experience is designed to do more than be more pleasant. By engaging patients to take charge of their health, allowing doctors to spend more time with each patient, and setting up a coordinated network, Dr. Hildner believes Villagers will lead healthier lives, with fewer crisis events, such as heart attacks.

“We’re excited about working with USF and being able to do outcomes research to prove that,” he said.

–– Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications
— Video by Allyn DiVito, USF Health Information Systems

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Few other events bring together USF’s emerging scientists better than the annual USF Health Research Day. The day-long event showcases the best and the brightest researchers across all USF Health colleges, as well as guest researchers whose work focus on the science of health. It also allows many of them to spotlight existing collaborations, as well as form new ones, said Phillip Marty, PhD, vice president for USF Health Research.

“These kinds of opportunities for multidisciplinary collaborations are the essence of what academic medicine is all about,” Dr. Marty said. “The best science comes from academic medical and academic health centers.”

This year’s event, the 23rd Annual USF Health Research Day, kept the promise for top research projects and a steady crowd of interested faculty, staff and students reinforced the fact that research is at the heart of USF Health.

A record 340 presenters participated in this year’s USF Health Research Day, an event that showcases the work of graduate and postgraduate students and residents, and even faculty and staff, from throughout USF Health, as well as across campus.

In addition to those from USF, 14 of the poster presenters were students from charter high and middle schools in The Villages, showcasing their own award-winning posters. This is the second year the young students’ posters were judged by USF post doc students. The mentoring effort formed out of a partnership between USF Health and the Villages. The young scientists seem to hold their own when various visitors inquired about their work and the charter students seemed to enjoy interacting with USF faculty, even having a group shot with USF Health CEO Stephen Klasko, MD, MBA, dean for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.

The event began bright and early, starting off with the 4th Annual Annual Joseph Krzanowski, PhD, USF Health Invited Oral Presentations Session, when only a select few researchers present their work. The 10 invited to present their work orally this year were: Juanjuan Yin, Ingrid Ramirez, Ravi Kasiappan, Lee Stratton, Tigran Kesayan, JungA Alexa Woo, Nadine Nelson, Shabnam Mehra, Evelyn Anegbe, Andrea Bingham and Jessica Gordon.

Immediately following the oral presentations, the full poster presentation session began. Judges made their rounds to each presentation, asking the lead researchers to further explain their methods, results and conclusions before deciding on the award-worthy entrants. Many of the budding researchers use the day-long event as a prime opportunity for collaboration and as a “practice run” for future national research meetings.

Culminating the day was the Roy H. Behnke Distinguished Lectureship, featuring Howard McLeod, PharmD, professor of pharmacogenomics and director of the Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His talk was titled “Using the Genome to Guide Therapy.” (See related story)

As the day wound down, winners were announced at the Awards Ceremony: Best MCOM Graduate Student Poster Presentations: – Allergy and Immunology: Chris Laird – Allergy and Immunology: Amorce Lima – Cancer Biology: Nadine Nelson – Cardiovascular: Justin Hooper – Clinical Science and Outcomes Research: Ty Bowman – Molecular and Cell Biology: Shannon Kesl

Best MCOM Medical Student Presentations:

– Med II Student Poster Presentation, Allergy and Immunology: Daniel Olson

– Med II Student Poster Presentation: Cancer Biology: Shonali Midha

– Med II Student Poster Presentation, Chart Reviews and Case Studies: John Pham

– Med II Student Poster Presentation, Clinical Sciences: Yin Zheng

– Med II Student Poster Presentation, Education: Candace Haddock

– Med II Student Poster Presentation: Stephen Aradi – Med III Student Poster Presentation, Chart Reviews and Case Studies: Gregory Horn

Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentations:

Clinical: Annie Castillo

Molecular and Cell Biology: Peter Moran

Neuroscience I: Beatrice Attilus

Neuroscience II: Awa Sanneh

Best College of Nursing Poster Presentation

–  Graduate Student Julie Daugherty

Best College of Pharmacy Poster Presentations:

– Graduate Student: Athar Naif

– Postdoctoral: Chapalamadugu Kalyan

Best College of Public Health Poster Presentations:

– Graduate Student: Margeaux Chavez

– Graduate Student: Korede Adegoke

– Graduate Student: Pamela Guevara

– Graduate Student: Jennifer Sedillo

– Graduate Student: Blake Barrett

– Graduate Student: Christopher Campbell

– Graduate Student: MahmoodaKhaliq Pasha

Best TVCS High School Student Poster Presentation: Kathryn Fairchild

Best TVCS Middle School Student Poster Presentation: Kunal Upadya

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USF Health Vice President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Oral Presentation: Andrea Bingham

MCOM Outstanding Postdoctoral Poster Presentation: Ravi Pathak

MCOM Outstanding Postdoctoral Poster Presentation: Jessica Chang

MCOM Best Resident Poster Presentation: Jiangchuan Tao

MCOM Best Resident Poster Presentation: Midhir Patel

Watson Clinic Award to a Fourth-Year Medical Student: Chad Engel

Dr. Christopher P. Phelps Memorial Fund Annual Morsani COM Graduate Student Travel Award: Laura Blair

Pediatric Administrators Awards for Best Presentation on Children’s Health: Sarah Maness

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Video by Allyn DiVito, USF Health Information Services

Social Media by Elizabeth Peacock, USF Health Communications

Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Communications

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

RELATED STORIES:
Research Day 2013: Bringing USF Health together
Research Day speaker:  Move genetic discovery to medical practice

Donna Petersen, ScD, dean of the the USF College of Public Health, reported on the preliminary results of a recent community health survey conducted at The Villages, in which more than 33,000 Villagers participated.

“The survey results confirmed what we see, feel and hear every time we’re here,” Petersen said during an interview after the Aug. 21  presentation at The Villages’ Savannah Center. “That (this) is a high-functioning population that cares about their health, are actively engaged in their lives and — just by living here and engaging in life in The Villages — are helping to promote their own health and achieve a high quality of life.”

Donna Petersen, dean of the USF College of Public Health, was the the survey’s architect.

Petersen, the architect of the healthcare survey, told the audience that researchers will continue to analyze the data and bring more detailed results back, so residents can work with USF on  ways to make their community even healthier.

For more on the survey results, please see the Villages Daily Sun article:  http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/villages/article_09427b80-ec11-11e1-a1c2-0019bb2963f4.html

USF Health in The Villages is an innovative partnership of  The Villages,  the Central Florida Health Alliance and the University of South Florida medical community.