Tricia Matthews

CNMT Assistant Welcomes Displaced Haitian Cousin

Tricia Matthews, a certified nuclear medicine technologist (CNMT) assistant at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, was featured recently in the newspaper Catholic Review regarding her 13-year-old Haitian cousin, Giliane Lafontant, whom Matthews welcomed into her home following the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated that country.

Three months ago, the New York-born, Haiti-raised teen was being driven to dance class in her native country when the A magnitude 7 earthquake ravaged Port-Au-Prince and its surrounding neighborhoods. Her Petionville home and school sustained heavy damage.

Lafontant's mother reached out to family members in Baltimore, stressing the need for her daughter to continue her education. Matthews, 25, and Lafontant share a maternal grandmother and had seen each other many times--most recently at Matthews' August 2008 wedding.

By mid-February, Lafontant had moved in with Matthews, who also has a 1-year-old daughter. The girl is now a freshman at The Catholic High School of Baltimore. Catholic High's sponsoring order, the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, is covering Lafontant's tuition for the remainder of the year. The school is attempting to line up sponsors for her three remaining years.

Matthews, who is studying radiation therapy at the Community College of Baltimore County (with an eye toward earning her nuclear medicine degree and certification from Johns Hopkins University), says she didn't think twice about housing her cousin. "This is something that I felt was my duty," she tells ADVANCE. "After confirming that everyone was OK and realizing how damaging this earthquake was, our families immediately put our heads together to see what we could do to help."

Giliane Lafontant

Communication between the cousins hasn't been much of an issue. "I speak French and Haitian Creole fluently," says Matthews. "Giliane's English is actually not that bad. With so many of my cousins living outside of Haiti, Facebook [and] Twitter are in heavy use in our family, so Giliane had good practice with English before the earthquake--not to mention that in her school in Haiti, she was also in English class. It's been a little difficult for my husband to communicate with Giliane because he is American and really doesn't speak much French/Haitian Creole."

Her cousin is adjusting well to her American school, says Matthews. "She's learning the way we do things in the U.S. very quickly. She's still very jumpy when it rains or if there's thunder or anything out of the ordinary. I had a pack of crackers sitting on top of the microwave that was sitting on a stand, and I had gone to the stand to remove something from the bottom shelf, so the crackers moved just a bit. Giliane literally dropped everything and panicked because she thought an earthquake was coming. There are times where she gets nervous or uncomfortable sleeping alone. When that happens, I'll usually sleep on the floor in her room.

"Otherwise, Giliane has adjusted really well. The girls at her school try to include her in everything that they're doing inside and outside of school. She loves it!"

Wendy Lomers

RBMA's Lomers Named CFO of Acclaim Radiology Management

Acclaim Radiology Management, a Longview, Texas-based company offering services related to radiology revenue cycle management, recently appointed Wendy Lomers as its chief financial officer (CFO).

"Wendy Lomers is a radiology veteran whom we have admired for many years," said Cindy Pittmon, Acclaim founder and president. "Her extensive experience in financial analysis, staff development, managed care negotiations, imaging center analysis and reporting will be a valuable asset to our organization. We are particularly excited that our clients will benefit from Wendy's experience and expertise in radiology practice management."

Lomers is a certified public accountant (CPA) with a master's degree in management. An occasional contributor to ADVANCE, she has over 25 years of experience working with medical and radiology practices as a CPA, CFO and an executive manager.

Prior to joining Acclaim, Lomers served as administrative director for Radiology Associates of San Antonio, where she was responsible for strategic planning and management of a multi-hospital-based practice, nine wholly owned imaging centers, a Texas-based teleradiology practice, and a not-for profit breast imaging foundation.

Currently serving on the Radiology Business Management Association's (RBMA) Finance Committee and Managed Care Task Force, Lomers is also active in the Texas RBMA Chapter, having served several terms as president.

Jeffrey D. Bradley, MD

Bradley Named RTOG Lung Cancer Committee Chair

Jeffrey D. Bradley, MD, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has been appointed the Lung Cancer Committee Chair for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). Dr. Bradley is the S. Lee Kling Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the university as well as chief of thoracic service and director of the S. Lee Kling Center for Proton Therapy.  RTOG is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded national clinical trials group administered by the American College of Radiology (ACR).

"Dr. Bradley is widely recognized as a leader in testing new therapies for lung cancer," said Walter J. Curran Jr., MD, the RTOG Group Chair, and the executive director of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University.  "He has been actively involved in RTOG research for a number of years and is currently the principal investigator of RTOG's large phase III trial testing both high-dose conformal radiation therapy and a targeted agent for patients with locally advanced lung cancer. In 2008, RTOG identified Dr. Bradley as one of our outstanding Next Generation Investigators, and his appointment to a group leadership position shows the fulfillment of this early promise."

"The RTOG Lung Cancer Committee has a history of practice-changing innovative research, and I am honored to be appointed its new chair," said Dr. Bradley. "RTOG investigators are examining novel methods of radiation therapy delivery in clinical trials for stereotactic body radiotherapy for both operable and inoperable lung cancer patients as well as testing of the integration of new systemic therapies with optimized radiation.

As the chair of the RTOG Lung Cancer Committee, Dr. Bradley will serve on the RTOG Research Strategy Committee and work closely with investigators from the group's scientific core committees for translational research, advanced technology, symptom management, pathology, medical oncology, surgery, and pathology to develop and report on protocols designed to improve the outcome and quality of life of lung cancer patients.

Dr. Bradley succeeds Hak Choy, MD, the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Distinguished Chair in Therapeutic Oncology Research at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, as RTOG Lung Cancer Committee chair.

The soothing fountain (right foreground) in the waiting room of the women's imaging facility at Regional Medical Imaging (RMI) is one of many details designed to encourage women to maintain annual mammograms. photo/courtesy RMI

Michigan's RMI Launches Mammo Campaign

Concerned that too many women over 40--as well as younger women at higher risk for breast cancer--aren't making annual mammograms part of their health care routine, physicians at Regional Medical Imaging (RMI) in Flint, Mich., have launched an effort to encourage more women to focus on maintaining annual mammograms.

"With everything we can now do with medical technology, the prognosis can be quite good when breast cancer is detected early," says Miriam D. Pellerito, MD, a radiologist at RMI. "But if women delay starting mammograms or don't consistently have them each year, they substantially increase their risk of finding cancer at a later stage, when it's much more difficult to treat."

RMI's effort began with research to identify factors that cause women to lose focus on their health and allow their attention to crucial preventive medicine to lapse. "We found that lifestyle factors were at the forefront among reasons why many women fall behind," says Randy Hicks, MD, an RMI radiologist. "Too often, women focus singularly on caring for others at the expense of their own health. But pure and simple procrastination also plays a role. Some women dread mammography as a cold, clinical experience that they would just as soon put off."

To counter lifestyle and psychological factors, RMI has worked over the past 18 months to make the mammography experience more patient friendly. Components included a redesign of RMI's women's imaging facilities to make them more comfortable, pleasant and spa-like; staff training programs to ensure that interactions with patients are positive; and a marketing campaign to publicize RMI's "Different Mammogram Experience" to women.

Ultimately, RMI worked to create a positive connection or impression during each interaction with a patient, whether through marketing efforts, on the telephone, through the RMI Web site or in person.

The interior design of RMI's facilities, in consultation with Joe Paul Bingham of Joe Paul Designs in Grand Blanc, has been important to making the concept of a women-friendly medical imaging environment a reality. "Let's face it: clinical settings tend to feel impersonal, cold, and intimidating--and sometimes they're even physically uncomfortable," says Dr. Hicks. "Since research suggests that unpleasant experiences affect how well patients keep up with preventive care, we wanted to make a marked departure from the usual expectation, with warm, comfortable, and inviting facilities."

The design process undertaken to accomplish this goal encompassed the choice of interior colors; selecting comfortable furniture with a more home-like appearance; and adding accessories like fountains and artwork to create a soothing atmosphere and reduce patient anxiety.

Among other aspects of RMI's effort to create a more patient-friendly experience are spa-like amenities in waiting areas, such as coffee and tea service, and conveniences like free Wi-Fi.

An outreach campaign introduced RMI's "Different Mammogram Experience" last year, using a mix of print, outdoor and broadcast advertising to position RMI as a "New Breast Friend" for area women. One strategic goal of the campaign was to encourage women to communicate positively with others in their sphere of social influence about their mammography experiences.

Laurence M. Merlis

Abington Health Names New President/CEO

Laurence M. Merlis recently became the new president and CEO of Abington Health System in suburban Philadelphia. Widely recognized as an administrative innovator in radiology and radiation oncology, Merlis succeeded Richard L. Jones Jr., who retired Jan. 31.

Merlis has served as president and CEO at Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) HealthCare/Greater Baltimore Medical Center since 1999. Merlis initiated a clinical affiliation with Johns Hopkins, as well as several joint ventures with physicians. Under his leadership, a clinical technology plan was introduced at GBMC that included positron emission tomography (PET)/CT, robotic surgery, capsule technology and an advanced linear accelerator.

"After careful review of the candidates, the search committee concluded that [Merlis] was the best candidate to provide the vision and leadership that will be so critical for Abington over the next decade," said John H. Durham, chairman of the board of trustees of Abington Health and Abington Memorial Hospital. 

Prior to joining GBMC HealthCare, Merlis had served as executive vice president of Meridian Health System from 1997 to 1999, as president and CEO of Riverview Healthcare Services from 1993 to 1997; and as president and CEO of Essex Valley Healthcare from 1986 to 1993.

Merlis is a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and served as vice chairman of the Maryland Hospital Association. He assumed his role at Abington on Feb. 15.

Abington Health is the umbrella organization that encompasses its flagship hospital, Abington (Pa.) Memorial Hospital and Lansdale Hospital in Hatfield Township, Pa. Abington Health entities also include two outpatient facilities.

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