As 2008 prepares to sink slowly into the sunset, now is a fine time to reflect on the things that have happened to us in the past year – for better or worse.
Recently I read an article on cnn.com that highlighted its top health stories of 2008, and it made me think back to what might be the top stories at Martin Memorial in the year gone by. Being the official Season of Lists of the Top Things That Happened in the Last Year, I came up with – ta da! – a list of some of our own health highlights from 2008.
1. Mark Robitaille named president and chief executive officer. In October, Martin Memorial welcomed a new president and CEO for the first time in 19 years. Robitaille served as the health system’s senior vice president and chief operating officer since 1991 and started his career here in 1976. He took over for Richmond Harman, who retired after 30-plus years at Martin Memorial.
2. Total Cancer Care comes to Martin Memorial. In January we announced our partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center on an exciting new research program that could help revolutionize the way cancer is treated. This collaboration will develop a new research initiative to improve cancer prevention and treatment by using molecular technology to enhance the ability to diagnose and treat patients.
3. Martin Memorial announces off-site emergency department coming to St. Lucie West. The Martin Memorial Emergency Center at St. Lucie West, scheduled to open Fall 2009, will meet the critical medical services shortage currently facing residents of western St. Lucie County by bringing them timely emergency care close to home. The emergency center will be open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, but will not provide inpatient beds.
4. The 500th open-heart surgery is performed at the Frances Langford Heart Center. In October, surgeons reached the milestone on a woman in her 50s. It took a little more than two years to reach the mark after opening in August 2006 and in that time hundreds of lives have been saved at the Frances Langford Heart Center.
5. Martin Memorial goes tobacco free. We joined hundreds of other health care providers across the country by prohibiting the use of tobacco on any Martin Memorial property starting Oct. 1.
There are plenty of other things that could fit on this list as well. The Martin Memorial Foundation continued to raise funding critical to our mission of providing access to health care, with the 14th-annual Chrysanthemum Ball leading the charge. We continue our battle to build a hospital at Tradition. And Martin Memorial was a key member of the Life Sciences Initiative of Martin County, which is working to bring life sciences research to the county.
It’s been a fascinating year, but there’s much more to come in 2009. And you can continue to read all about it right here.
--Scott Samples
Public Information Coordinator
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