Hospital Updates

Q IHospitals

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare names Kate Dowd senior vice president and chief legal officer.

In this role she will direct the Memphis-based integrated healthcare system’s legal department and risk management goals. “After a comprehensive nationwide search, it became clear the right candidate was already within our organization,” said Monica Wharton, MLH executive vice president and chief administrative officer. “Kate’s experience navigating complex healthcare-related legal matters gives me great confidence she will successfully lead our multifaceted legal affairs efforts and serve as a trusted member of our system leadership team.”

Dowd has a decade of experience specializing in health and regulatory law, most recently serving as MLH’s regulatory counsel. Prior to joining MLH in 2019, she served as an attorney in the Healthcare Regulatory and Transactions Practice Group at Butler Snow LLP.

“Our policies, best practices and unshakeable commitment to our patients enable us to deliver outstanding care,” added Wharton. “Kate’s core values align perfectly with our mission to improve the health and wellbeing of our community.”

Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, Dowd has called Memphis home for 17 years. She received her undergraduate degree from Rhodes College and graduated cum laude from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis.

Baptist Cancer Center awarded prestifious international award at lung cancer conference.

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) recently named Baptist Cancer Center the 2022 North America Regional Winner for one of the association’s most prestigious awards—the IASLC Cancer Care Team Award during the IASLC 2022 World Conference on Lung Cancer.

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) recently named Baptist Cancer Center the 2022 North America Regional Winner for one of the association’s most prestigious awareds-the IASLC Cancer Care Team Aware--during the IASLC 2022 World Conference on lung cancer. The Cancer Care Team Award recognizes a single institution in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia/Rest of the World for extraordinary patient care in the field of lung cancer and thoracic malignancies. Patients and their loved ones nominate teams for the award.

“We are honored to be one of only three cancer teams across the globe to receive this award, but it is most meaningful because we were nominated by one of our patients,” said Dr. Raymond Osarogiagbon, chief scientist for Baptist Memorial Health Care and director of the multidisciplinary thoracic oncology program and the thoracic oncology research group for Baptist Cancer Center. “Our team is dedicated to caring for our patients and furthering research in the field of lung cancer. This award demonstrates our exceptional teamwork and how it benefits our patients.”

Q I Hospitals

Regional One Health’s Center for Innovation is partnering with Welwaze to test its Celbrea technology.

Celbrea is a quick, non-invasive and painless way to alert patients to seek further evaluation for breast cancer. It detects biothermal activity, which is a marker for breast disease, in just 15 minutes. Catching cancer early is crucial to successful treatment and reducing the number of patients who die from breast cancer. It is used along with routine physical exams, breast palpation, mammography and other established procedures.

“We want to encourage women to seek medical attention as early as possible so they have the best chance to survive,” said Alex Ness, founder and CEO of Welwaze. “Our innovative technology helps women easily learn if there is any sign of breast disease so if the results show breast disease, they know how important it is to make an appointment with their physician.”

Celbrea can help women who face challenges with access to doctors and screening centers, as well as patients who need to monitor themselves more often because of their breast density or genetic profile. Ness added the technology can increase women’s compliance when it comes to keeping up their recommended mammogram schedule and can serve as a means of encouraging women to be more diligent about screening and seeing their doctor.

Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis recently named radiation oncologist Dr. Matthew Ballo as Medical Director of the hospital’s radiation oncology program.

Dr. Ballo also serves as Medical Director of Radiation Oncology at West Cancer Center and Research Institute. In June 2021, West Cancer Center and Saint Francis announced a partnership that would include the area’s first ever urgent care clinic for oncology patients, to be housed at Saint FrancisMemphis, a dedicated oncology floor within the hospital and a joint commitment to providing patients with access to advanced technology.

Most recently, Dr. Ballo and physicians from Semmes-Murphey completed the area’s first GammaTile® procedure at Saint Francis. Only one other hospital in the state of Tennessee boasts the GammaTile® Technology. Designed to help prevent the reoccurrence of brain tumors, GammaTile is a collagen tile implant that delivers radiation to the area where the patient’s brain tumor was removed— with the goal of leaving healthy tissue unaffected. It is a one-time treatment intended to eliminate the need for ongoing radiation treatments.

“Having Dr. Ballo as Director of Radiation Oncology will help propel us forward in our mission of providing a broad spectrum of oncology services to the community, staffed by the area’s finest providers, and featuring leading-edge technology,” said Chris Cosby, Market Chief Executive Officer for Saint Francis Healthcare and CEO of Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis.