Memorial Physician Group: Growing to Serve the Community

When a dedicated group of physicians works collaboratively across a healthcare system to provide quality, safety, service and value, it can make a real difference in that system’s ability to deliver outstanding patient- and family-centered care. That’s the mission – and the accomplishments – of Memorial Physician Group (MPG).

Memorial Physician Group is a physician-led, professionally managed multispecialty group. On most days, MPG runs 98 clinics in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. It is one of the largest multispecialty groups in South Florida: Beginning with just 31 physicians when it was created 20 years ago, Memorial Physician Group now has expanded to 308 physicians (with a total of 411 healthcare providers), representing 52 medical practices.

This year, MPG added more subspecialty services – including kidney transplant, head and neck cancer, hyperbaric medicine/wound care and neurocritical care – and in January 2019, restructured itself to improve efficiency of operations.

“Our new Physician Leadership Council facilitates a true team approach that marries individual strengths to shared accountability,” said Aharon Sareli, MD, Medical Director, Adult Critical Care Services and Chief Physician Executive, Memorial Physician Group. “This new organizational model will further enhance our commitment to providing outstanding healthcare to our community.”

MPG continues to champion innovative projects through its subcommittees:

• The Operations Committee – led by Brian Cauff, MD, Associate Medical Director, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, and Daniel Chan, MD, Medical Director, Division of Orthopedic Surgery & Sports Medicine – developed the MPG App, a smartphone tool that allows patients to make appointments and access information about MPG providers
• The Clinical Effectiveness Committee – chaired by Juan Martinez, MD, Chief, Department of Medicine, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital – focuses on achievement, recording and reporting of quality indicators
• The Physician Wellness Committee – under the leadership of Gary Birken, MD, Chief of Staff, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital – works to maintain a healthy and productive environment for our physicians

“It’s a privilege and honor to serve as MPG’s Chief Physician Executive during this time of unprecedented growth and innovation,” Dr. Sareli said. “I’m confident that MPG will continue to excel by delivering Deeper Caring and Smarter Healthcare.”

Memorial Health Network

Memorial Health Network is a physician-led Memorial organization that manages and operates a clinically integrated provider network with the goals of improving clinical outcomes and lowering costs.

Looking Back on 30 Years at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital

As Chief of Staff, Surgeon-in-Chief and Chief of Pediatric Trauma, Gary Birken, MD, has presided over much of the history of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. But with his retirement approaching, he is quick to credit the contributions of others.

“In the beginning, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital was the brainchild of Frank Sacco,” Dr. Birken said. “It was Frank who recognized the need for state-of-the-art, tertiary-care pediatrics in Broward County.”

Dr. Birken was there at the start: He accompanied Mr. Sacco, then Memorial’s President and CEO, to meet with Joe DiMaggio and ask the baseball legend’s permission to use his name. Dr. Birken helped celebrate when the original Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital opened in 1992, and when the freestanding hospital was completed in 2011. But creating a world-class children’s hospital was more than a matter of bricks and mortar.

“We knew that if we could bring key pediatric surgical specialists here, the opportunity to grow those services would be unchecked,” Dr. Birken said. “The theory was the reverse of ‘If you build it, they will come’ – we recruited the specialists, and then built the hospital.

“Appointing Nina Beauchesne as Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital’s first Administrator was also a milestone in our history,” he added. “She was, and always has been, a key player in building our success.”

Recruiting an outstanding team of physicians inspired other high-performing pediatric specialists and non-clinicians to consider Memorial, Dr. Birken explained.

“Once we had the key people in place, we knew the Administration had our backs when it came to recruiting more,” he said. “They were very supportive of the medical staff and provided us what we needed to grow the hospital.”

Today, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital is a regional leader with a broad array of pediatric services and is the first children’s hospital in the world to be designated as a Person-Centered Organization by Planetree, Inc.

After witnessing – and presiding over – so much growth and success, Dr. Birken said that retirement was beckoning at the right point in his life.

“I think we all realize when it’s time,” he said. “I’m ready to pass the baton. We’ve recruited an outstanding group of young pediatric surgeons who will provide excellence in our specialty for many years to come. What satisfies me the most is that I’ll be leaving our children’s hospital in the best possible hands.”

The author of six medical suspense novels, Dr. Birken is looking forward to pursuing his other passions, like tennis, martial arts and spending time with his 10 grandchildren. But looking back is satisfying, too.

“My main legacy to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital will be leaving a strong division of pediatric surgery, but overall, I hope I accomplished what I set out to do,” he said. “I’d like to believe I helped build something of real importance that stands as a critical resource in our community. It was exciting, and something I’ll always be proud and honored to have been part of.”

Reflecting on Creating Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute

What does it take to build a cardiac program to serve a broad and densely populated region like South Florida? According to Richard Perryman, MD, Medical Director, Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute, you need to accurately assess the needs of the community, gain administrative support – and, most of all, hire the best people.

“I look as every recruitment as an opportunity to raise the bar,” he said.

Dr. Perryman arrived at Memorial in 1998, and in 2003 became one of the first cardiovascular physicians to be employed by Memorial, eventually serving as Chief of Cardiac Surgery. The seeds of Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute were planted when former Memorial President and CEO Frank Sacco asked Dr. Perryman to administer a full cardiac program – including heart failure treatment, heart surgery, adult heart transplant, an adult congenital heart disease program, imaging, and more. It would be the kind of program that would require special vision and leadership.

“Two tenets have always led me,” Dr. Perryman said. “One is that you take people somewhere they didn’t realize they wanted to go. The other is that you surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.”

Dr. Perryman always believed his main responsibility was making it possible for his staff to excel. “My job has been to get very talented people the resources they need and then get out of the way,” he said.

A native of the United Kingdom, Dr. Perryman earned his medical degree from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London in 1967, and came to the United States in 1968 to complete his internships and residencies in cardiothoracic surgery at Duke University Hospital. He completed his fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Florida College of Medicine in 1981.

Prior to joining Memorial, Dr. Perryman served as chief of cardiothoracic surgery and director of pediatric heart surgery at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, chief of cardiovascular surgery at Jacksonville’s Shands Hospital, and chief of cardiac surgery at Veterans Administration Hospital in Miami. Memorial, he felt, offered a special kind of opportunity.

“I’ve always been interested in and understood that an organization like Memorial has a community responsibility,” he said. “I didn’t know that I could get so immersed in issues like population health, so it’s been an interesting time to be on the administrative side. And at the same time I was just as interested in building a regional program. So both the local and the regional aspects of the job appealed to me.”

While Dr. Perryman will be stepping down as Medical Director of Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute in December, he will assume a part-time administrative role to help Memorial’s continued efforts to improve population health.

“I’ll be able to keep working on healthcare issues that matter to me, and also have the time to pursue other interests and new challenges,” he said.

Building Memorial Neuroscience Institute from the Ground Up

When Greg Zorman, MD, FACS, first arrived in South Florida in 1983, there was no Memorial Neuroscience Institute. He and the other Memorial neurosurgeons performed procedures at Memorial and various hospitals. “We finally decided it would be nice if we built our own program,” he said.

The result: A regional institute, led by Dr. Zorman, where patients receive the full range of care for complex neurological conditions and injuries. And it’s continuing to grow, expanding its staff to include 15 neurologists and 10 neurosurgeons in a multidisciplinary team of neuropsychologists, neurointensivists, neurointerventional surgeons and neuroradiologists.

Now, after 40 years, Dr. Zorman will retire in January 2020. A team of neurosurgeons, neurologists and neurointerventionalists will make sure the institute’s essential programs remain in place.

In the meantime, Dr. Zorman is taking stock of just how much growth and success he’s seen – all of which has been formed by Memorial’s unique culture.

“Memorial’s commitment to patient- and family-centered care communicates something very important: We care about them,” he said. “Everyone on our team has that in their bones.”

One of the keys to the institute’s successful growth has been keeping abreast of developments in the field and Memorial’s willingness to invest in the latest technologies, Dr. Zorman said. “We have the NeuroPace RNS® to help prevent epilepsy seizures, minimally invasive spine techniques, and soon, deep-brain stimulation. And we provide all these services under one roof.”

Knowing that he will leave a legacy of advanced technology, expertise and compassionate care, Dr. Zorman is making his retirement plans. They include volunteering for Angel Flight to pilot patients for free to obtain medical care around the country.

“I’ve been doing what I’m doing for so long that I’m not sure what it’s going to be like not doing it,” he said. “But to grow in life, you need to make changes. It’s been a pleasure, a challenge, an opportunity and a blessing to work here.”