July/August Medical Beat

The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services has designated Upper Chesapeake Medical Center as one of 23 cardiac interventional centers in the region.

The designation signifies the medical center meets state standards to receive patients transported by ambulance who are experiencing an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) – the most common type of heart attack. Emergency medical providers who identify patients with this kind of heart attack must take them to the nearest designated cardiac interventional center, bypassing non-designated hospitals.

University of Maryland Doctor Leads Trial on Breast Cancer

The University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center is leading a multicenter clinical trial to evaluate a new approach in treating triple-negative breast cancer – an often aggressive type of cancer that is more common in African-Americans and young women.

The trial, led by Saranya Chumsri, M.D., an oncologist at the Greenebaum Cancer Center, will help researchers see if the experimental drug entinostat can reprogram tumor cells to express a protein that would make them sensitive to hormone therapy. It is based on lab studies by Angela H. Brodie, PhD., a University of Maryland breast cancer researcher, and her colleagues.

Doctors will treat newly diagnosed postmenopausal patients with entinostat and an aromatase inhibitor called anastrozole (Arimidex) before they have surgery to remove their cancer. Researchers will then analyze tissue from the tumor and blood samples to evaluate whether the treatment is effective. After surgery, patients will receive standard treatment, such as chemotherapy and radiation. Researchers hope to enroll 41 patients at 20 sites, including the Greenebaum Cancer Center.

Doordan retires from AAMC

After almost 40 years at Anne Arundel Medical Center, CEO Martin L. “Chip” Doordan has retired.

Anne Arundel Health System’s Board of Trustees announced Doordan’s retirement in June. Victoria W. Bayless, the health system’s former president, took over as CEO on July 1.

Doordan joined the Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) in 1972 as an administrative resident. In 1988, he became AAMC’s president and in 1994, the Board of Trustees named him president of Anne Arundel Health System. AAMC has more than doubled in size under Doordan’s leadership. The health system has also built satellite locations in Bowie, Kent Island and Waugh Chapel.

“I never had a day where I didn’t want to come to work,” said Doordan. “It’s astonishing to think that nearly 40 years have flown by since I first joined Anne Arundel General Hospital. Today we’re a gleaming, modern expansive health system, touching hundreds of thousands of lives each year. It’s been a real privilege to spend my career here.”

BWMC Doctor Named Emergency Physician of the Year

The Maryland chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians recently named Neel Vibhakar, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at Baltimore Washington Medical Center, as its Emergency Physician of the Year.

Vibhakar, chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at BWMC, was honored during the college’s annual meeting in Baltimore along with his co-worker Lynn Brown, R.N., who was named Emergency Nurse of the Year.

GBMC Doctor Receives Caregiver Award

Greater Baltimore Medical Center recently awarded Hmu Minn, M.D., with its fourth annual Nancy J. Petrarca Compassionate Caregiver Award.

Dr. Minn, an internal medicine physician and associate program director of GBMC’s internal medicine residency program, received $1,000 as part of the honor, created in 2008 to honor caregivers who display extraordinary compassion in caring for patients and their families. He has worked at GBMC for five years.

Howard County General’s Spine Center Earns Distinction

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has designated Howard County General Hospital’s (HCGH) Spine Academy as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery®.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, awards the designation to hospitals that meet evidence-based thresholds for clinical quality, including patient results and treatment expertise, and safety developed with input from expert clinicians and leading professional organizations.

HCGH is a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine.