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23February 2022

Oncology, Surgery and Endoscopy Services Now Available at Fishermen’s Community Hospital

Cancer patients in the Florida Keys who need chemotherapy or other treatments can now access a range of oncology services from one of Florida’s leading cancer centers without having to travel far from home, according to Jean Santaguida, APRN, a nurse practitioner with Miami Cancer Institute at Fishermen’s Community Hospital, part of Baptist Health South Florida.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer exceptional and convenient cancer care to the residents of the Middle and Lower Keys,” Ms. Santaguida says, noting that Miami Cancer Institute has been recognized as one of the best healthcare facilities in the nation for cancer care based on U.S. News & World Report rankings. The high performing oncology program puts Miami Cancer Institute in the top 10% of leading cancer centers in the nation. 

According to Ms. Santaguida, Fishermen’s Community Hospital now has an outpatient oncology suite with three private rooms where patients can receive chemotherapy, Immunotherapies, targeted therapies, transfusions and hydration services.

Patients also have access to the extensive clinical resources and unique support services offered at Miami Cancer Institute’s main campus in Miami. “If needed, we can provide expedited referrals to our providers there, either in-person or virtually through a telehealth platform such as Baptist Health Care On Demand,” she says.

23February 2022

Medtronic and Amazon plan colorectal cancer screenings in underserved communities

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced their plans to donate 50 Medtronic GI Genius modules to endoscopy centers serving low-income and underserved communities across the U.S.

One of the goals is to improve the detection of polyps that can lead to colorectal cancer, which is the most common cancer among adults in the U.S. — and the third deadliest.

Fridley, Minnesota-based Medtronic launched the GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module in 2019 and secured FDA authorization for marketing last year. Powered by artificial intelligence, the system automatically detects colorectal polyps of varying shapes and sizes in real-time. Medtronic said the system increases the absolute detection rate by up to 14.4%, with each 1% increase cutting a patient’s risk of colorectal cancer by 3%.

“The crisis of health inequities cannot be solved without expanding access to healthcare technologies that put people first,” Medtronic Chair and CEO Geoff Martha said in a news release. “We must begin with local efforts that consider the needs of the community.”

The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy will select facilities to receive the free equipment under the Medtronic Health Equity Assistance Program, with the hopes of helping more than 350,000 patients.

“This effort is part of Medtronic’s Zero Barriers approach to building equity within our healthcare system, accelerating our innovation and helping to bring our lifesaving technologies to more patients,” Medtronic Gastrointestinal President Giovanni Di Napoli said in a news release. “The program represents a continuation of Medtronic’s commitment to health equity anchored in healthcare technology.”

Facilities with appropriate video processing equipment must agree to provide feedback and public relations cooperation “to share physician testimonial of AI-assisted colonoscopy in clinical practice or a patient story to market colorectal cancer awareness on a local or national scale,” according to the application.

Seattle-based Amazon’s cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services, provided computing credits to help fund the screening program and is working with Medtronic on the continued development of the GI Genius system.

“Individual health outcomes should not depend on socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, or neighborhood,” Maggie Carter, global lead for social impact at AWS, said in the news release.

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