Grand Rounds March on Mississippi Medical News

Grand Rounds March

SRHS Hospital Auxiliaries Offer Scholarships

Singing River Health System hospital auxiliaries are now offering college scholarships and the deadline is April 1.

The Ocean Springs Hospital Auxiliary is offering several $1,000 scholarships to students.

To be eligible to receive a scholarship, the student applying must be at least 19 years old, have completed at least one year of college and be studying in the field of medicine.

Scholarship applications are available at the Front Information Desk at Ocean Springs Hospital and at mysrhs.com. Completed applications and all materials should be mailed to Ocean Springs Hospital Auxiliary Inc., c/o Scholarship Committee, 3109 Bienville Blvd., Ocean Springs, MS 39564.

For more information, call Emily Lancaster at 228-872-3937.

Line receives sports medicine certification from ABOS

Dr. Lance Line of Southern Bone and Joint Specialists, P.A. has received subspecialty certification in sports medicine from the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS).

Candidates are required to document proficiency in surgical procedures and also non-surgical management of sports medicine problems. This was followed by an intensive four-hour examination. ABOS administers the exam every 10 years.

Line maintains an active sports medicine practice with a subspecialty interest in shoulder conditions in Hattiesburg since 1995. He is currently a team physician for the University of Southern Mississippi, William Carey University, Pearl River Community College and many area high schools.

He also sees patients in Southern Bone and Joint’s satellite clinics in Columbia, Poplarville and Collins once a week.

Line attended the University of Mississippi Medical Center and subsequently completed his residency at University Medical Center in Jackson. Following residency, he completed a one-year fellowship in Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy in Richmond, Va. which included an internship with the Pittsburg Steelers professional football program.

He is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He is a member of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Mississippi Orthopaedic Society and American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.

UMMC’S Advanced Pet/Ct System Provides Clearer Picture Of Abnormalities

An advanced PET/CT at the University of Mississippi Medical Center dramatically improves clinical, research and educational capabilities through enhanced imaging.

The hybrid images produced by the system – one of eight in the world – provides better clarity for diagnosing cancers and has greater applications for research in Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease. For the patient, the combination of the newest PET crystal detectors, the 64-slice CT and the most advanced computer processing available enables quicker scanning. This means less time in the machine.

Green said the average time for a patient to spend in the machine is 9-15 minutes to scan from the top of the head to the middle of the thighs, compared to up to an hour in the older PET scanner, with no CT component. The PET/CT together defines the area and highlights the “bad spots” with a tiny amount of radioactive glucose, Green said.

Think of the CT (computed tomography) image as a geographic map and the PET (positron emission tomography) image as the weather system.

Together they provide a clearer picture. With one component, it’s like knowing a thunderstorm is present. With both, you can tell its exact location and its size. Tumors as small as 2 to 3 mm can be detected.

The system combined with research has the potential to help advance knowledge in cardiology through stress tests that capture images of the heart and to advance knowledge in Alzheimer’s disease through images of living participants in research studies.

Dr. Thomas Mosley, professor of medicine and director of the MIND Center, said he plans to use the new PET/CT system to study the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease in participants. From the time the disease was first identified until today, the only way that Alzheimer’s could be confirmed with 100 percent confidence has been through autopsy.

This past summer, a new radioactive dye was produced that attaches to the plaques that develop in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Using a PET scan, the dye highlights the plaques, allowing them to be seen in participants. Mosley said he and researchers at the Medical Center have partnered with Johns Hopkins Medical Center to begin working with the new dye this spring using the sophisticated PET/CT system at UMMC.

Wesley Medical Center upgrades clinical laboratory operations

Wesley Medical Center recently completed the installation of two state-of-the-art, clinical lab machines to improve patient safety and reduce testing errors in the laboratory.

The Dimension RxL Max Integrated Chemistry System and StreamLAB Automation Solution, both manufactured by Siemens, help increase lab efficiency while allowing more clinical tests to be run from a single workstation.

Through the Dimension RxL System, Wesley’s lab personnel have streamlined their workflow by running multiple disease-specific tests using various testing methods on a single machine. Additionally, by linking the device to the StreamLAB Automation Solution, Wesley has also automated many of the manual tasks previously required to run tests, such as decapping, centrifuging, sample introduction, recapping and storage of the samples after testing.

National Children’s Study Awareness Day Rally

The National Children’s Study Hinds County MS Study Location - University of Mississippi Medical Center Study Center, is hosting a rally Monday, March 7 on the front steps of the State Capitol to create awareness of the launch of the largest long-term study of children’s health ever conducted in the United States, enrolling approximately 100,000 children across the nation and following them from before birth to age 21. The national Study is sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

Hinds County has been selected as one of over 100 Study Locations across the United States. Because it is the state’s only academic health science center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center was selected to be the research home for the NCS Hinds County MS Study Location. Our local partners include: Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children and the Mississippi State Department of Health.

and dust, what children eat, how they are cared for and how often they see a healthcare provider. The National Children’s Study seeks to improve children’s health by providing a rich source of information that may ultimately help to improve the health and development of children for generations to come.

Dr. Christopher Ball and Dr. Kyle Ball Deliver at Central Mississippi Medical Center

Central Mississippi Medical Center welcomes the arrival of Dr. Christopher Ball and Dr. Kyle Ball. The addition of these two highly experienced obstetrics and gynecology physicians will greatly benefit the women of Central Mississippi.

Dr. Christopher Ball and Dr. Kyle Ball are brothers who have worked in private practice together for the past 23 years. Both are distinguished physicians in their field. They will exclusively deliver babies at Central Mississippi Medical Center and their offices will be located at the hospital as well.

Originally born in New Orleans, Dr. Christopher and Kyle Ball have been long-time residents of Mississippi. Both completed their undergraduate work at Mississippi State University and their graduate work at the University of Mississippi Medical School. From there on out, they did their postgraduate training in different locations, but found their way back to Jackson and started a private practice together in 1988. Both are members of the Mississippi State Medical Association, as well as Fellows at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

OB/GYN Barbie Sullivan, MD, To Serve As Baptist Executive Medical Director for Women

Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., announces OB/Gyn Barbie D. Sullivan, MD, with The Woman’s Clinic, as the executive medical director of women services at Baptist. Dr. Sullivan will continue her very active private medical practice with The Woman’s Clinic, and in addition, she will serve in this new executive leadership role for Baptist.

She will be responsible for the oversight, development and execution of approved initiatives for Baptist for Women. Dr. Sullivan will work closely with Terri Meadows, Women’s Services product line director, and the Women’s Services Physicians Advisory Council.

Sullivan has been an active member of the Baptist medical staff since 1996 and is board certified in Obstetrics & Gynecology. She has chaired many medical staff committees, including the OB Section and Surgery Section and currently serves as medical director for the Baptist for Women Center for Surgery.

Anderson Welcomes New Infectious Disease Specialist

Anderson Regional Medical Center welcomes Jesse P. Penico, MD, who will be practicing at the Anderson Infectious Disease Center.

Infectious disease specialists like Dr. Penico are medical detectives. They examine difficult cases, looking for clues to identify the culprit and solve the problem.

Dr. Penico is a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, Pittsburg, Penn., and received his medical degree from Tulane University Medical School in New Orleans. He interned and did his residency at Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans.

Board certified in both Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease, Dr. Penico was the Chief of the Infectious Disease Section and Director of the Infusion Clinic most recently at the Medical Center Clinic, West Florida Hospital. He also practiced at East Jefferson Hospital, Southern Baptist Hospital and Kenner Regional Hospital (formerly St. Jude).

His extensive experience in the fields of internal medicine and infectious disease involved working as an investigator in Phase 3 and 4 trials of some of the most well-known drugs on the market today.

The Anderson Infectious Disease Center treats patients who have infections or inflammatory conditions and is located at 1400 20th Ave., Meridian, MS, in the suite adjacent to Cardiac Surgical Associates, 601.553.6361.

30-Year Knee Replacement Surgery Performed by Orthopedic Specialist Dr. Daniel Dare

The future is now at Central Mississippi Medical Center in the form of the very latest in knee replacement technology. Dr. Daniel Dare is performing 30-year knee replacement surgeries using VERILAST technology. This procedure is recommended for those requiring knee surgeries that are younger and want a replacement to last for a long time.

The product itself has been extensively lab-tested to simulate and withstand 30 years of physical activity. This more than doubles the typical lifespan of a regular replacement knee. Increased mobility and decreased pain are just two of the major benefits of this type of surgery.

Dr. Dare has over 30 years of experience as an orthopedic surgeon and is a graduate of Louisiana State University where he received both his bachelor and medical degrees. Dr. Dare completed his residency at Tulane Medical Center and has been a clinical instructor in orthopedic surgery at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine since 1979.

Blumentritt Named Partner at HORNE LLP

HORNE LLP, one of the largest accounting and business advisory firms in the Southeast specializing in accounting and consulting services to the healthcare industry, announced today that Rud Blumentritt, CPA/ABV, CVA, has been named partner within the firm. Blumentritt works from the firm’s Hattiesburg, Miss., location where his primary focus is the valuation of health care entities and health care transactions.

Blumentritt works with members of HORNE’s health care services team providing a variety of fair market value consulting services to health care systems, attorneys and physician groups. He is also a member of HORNE’s personnel committee.

Blumentritt earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Auburn University and a Master of Accounting degree from Tulane University.