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Mercy's Sister Helen Amos, RSM, Receives Andrew White Medal From Loyola College
Sister Helen Amos, RSM, executive chair of the Board, was awarded the Andrew White Medal by Loyola College last Friday, March 28th, 2008. According to Loyola, the presentation of the Andrew White Medal gives public testimony to the contributions of Maryland citizens who have distinguished themselves by serving their fellow Marylanders. The award is named in honor of Fr. Andrew White, the Jesuit chaplain to the first settlers who arrived in Maryland on the Ark and Dove in 1634.

Sister Helen Amos was recognized for: dedicating time and energy unselfishly to public service; by conspicuous example of personal, domestic and civic virtue; and, by sincere regard for and painstaking effort to ameliorate the lot of the unfortunate. The leaders of Loyola College also cited Sister Helen "for her longstanding commitment to redefining and improving health care for all city residents, and for her courageous willingness to help confront the profound tragedy that is homelessness," along with her position as co-chair of Mayor Sheila Dixon's 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness.

This award is the latest community recognition of the untiring work and dedication of Sister Helen Amos and all the Sisters of Mercy who continue their efforts on behalf of Baltimore's citizens regardless of social or economic condition. Just last month, Sister Helen received the prestigious Speaker's Medallion from the Maryland House of Delegates in Annapolis.

Mercy's Dr. Kathy J. Helzlsouer Receives NCI Award For Outstanding Service
In November 2007, DCEG (The Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics) and The Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) hosted the annual meeting of the NCI (National Cancer Institute) Cohort Consortium in Bethesda, MD. Consortium membership now numbers 33 cohorts from 12 countries with 4 million study subjects, approximately 2 million of whom are linked to prediagnostic biological specimens.

A total of 111 scientists working on cohort studies attended the meeting. The consortium has launched multi-cohort studies of more than 10 forms of cancer using questionnaires, DNA and serum samples. Outgoing secretariat member Dr. Kathy J. Helzlsouer, Director of Prevention & Research at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD, received an NCI Award for Outstanding Service in Recognition of Leadership and Scientific Vision.

The Cohort Consortium (CoCo) was formed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to address the need for large-scale collaborations in order to have sufficient data and biospecimens to study gene-gene and gene-environment interactions in the etiology of cancer. The mission is to foster communications, promote collaborative projects, and identify common challenges and solutions. It provides a coordinated, interdisciplinary approach to tackling important scientific questions, economies of scale, opportunities to quicken the pace of research, and a collaborative network of investigators.

Dr. neil B. Rosenshein, The Weinberg Center for Women's Health and Medicine at Mercy, Announces Pilot Program to Benefit Ovarian Cancer Patients
(Baltimore, MD) — Neil B. Rosenshein, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., Director of the nationally acclaimed Weinberg Center for Women’s Health & Medicine at Mercy, and Medical Director of The Gynecologic Oncology Center at Mercy, has announced that a pilot program is being offered to assist ovarian cancer patients being treated at the downtown hospital.

According to Dr. Rosenshein, the program is a collaborative effort between Mercy, The Red Devils – a local non-profit group dedicated to improving the quality of life for Maryland breast cancer patients and their families – and the Baltimore Women’s Classic 5K, Inc. which has provided grant funding for the program.

Through partnerships with service providers, The Red Devils provides free support to referred patients that range from transportation to medical appointments and delivering meals and groceries to housecleaning, therapeutic massages and assistance with prescription drug co-payments. The group’s proven model will be used to open up these same services to ovarian cancer patients at Mercy at no charge.

This pilot program is now underway, with the study scheduled to conclude March 31st, 2008.

“At Mercy, we treat the whole person, not simply the illness. Cancer patients face a considerable challenge that does not end after surgery and chemotherapy. People dealing with this illness need assistance with the day to day necessities of life—picking up groceries, making meals, caring for the home and so forth. The Red Devils has a tremendous network of services that they have developed to assist those with breast cancer, including patients right here at Mercy’s Hoffberger Breast Center. We are now utilizing this proven system of services to help women fighting ovarian cancer as well,” Dr. Rosenshein said.

“The Baltimore Women’s Classic 5 K has a long and storied history dating back to 1976 and is America’s second oldest women’s race. The race is intended to celebrate life, fitness and the power that lies inside each woman to take control of her health. All race proceeds support women's causes. By funding this pilot program, we are supporting an initiative where 100 percent of the monies directly benefit those in need,” said Tom Amatucci, race director.

“Considerable strides have been made in the treatment of ovarian cancer resulting in better life expectancies, thanks to the medical expertise of doctors such as the talented team here at Mercy. While we remain committed to our original mission of providing a support system for breast cancer patients, it made great sense to use our program as a model for ovarian cancer patients, a group long championed by the Baltimore Women’s Classic 5 K, which has made this pilot program possible,” said The Red Devils Executive Director Jan Wilson.

The Red Devils is a Baltimore-based 501 (c) 3 charity founded five years ago by family and friends of two young women – Jessica Cowling and Ginny Schardt – who refused to be defined by breast cancer. The two met during treatment and died just months apart in 2002. Funds come from individual and corporate donations as well as grants. The group’s biggest fundraiser is the annual Red Devils Heart and Sole Stroll, next slated for Sunday, June 8 at Centennial Park in Columbia, MD. For more information, visit www.the-red-devils.org.

The Baltimore Women’s Classic 5 K is a 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated to promoting fitness and healthy living among all women while increasing awareness of women's health issues. The race’s guiding principle is the belief that athletic accomplishments are measured by healthy attitudes and by each woman reaching her own personal goals; not only by the quickest runners and winning race times. The race promotes a healthy spirit in our community where runners, volunteers and race organizers help women of all ages and abilities take strong steps toward a healthier lifestyle. This year’s race is scheduled for Sunday, June 22. For more information, visit www.baltimorewomensclassic.com.

Mercy Only Hospital In Baltimore Metro Area to Participate in Study Re: New Option for Advanced Melanoma
Baltimore-Area Residents with Stage 3 or Stage 4 Melanoma May Be Eligible to Participate in a Clinical Research Study Re: Allovectin-7®
(Baltimore, MD) − Noted surgical oncologist Dr. Armando Sardi, Director, The Institute for Cancer Care at Mercy Medical Center, and the medical team at the Institute have begun recruiting patients for a Phase 3 study to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of Allovectin-7®, an investigational product for advanced melanoma (Phase 3 studies are randomized controlled trials conducted at a number of centers involving large numbers of patients and are aimed at being the definitive assessment of how effective the drug is, in comparison with current 'gold standard' treatments).

Currently, Mercy Medical Center is the only hospital in the Baltimore metropolitan region to participate in this study.

If Allovectin-7® is found to be safe and effective in clinical trials, it may offer patients a new option for fighting advanced stage 3 or stage 4 melanoma. Safety and efficacy data from a Phase 2 clinical trial of Allovectin-7® were presented at the 2006 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting. The ongoing Phase 3 study is designed to determine whether more patients with advanced melanoma respond favorably to Allovectin-7® alone than to current standard chemotherapy alone.

Melanoma is among the fastest-growing cancer indications, rising at a 3 to 5 percent annual rate during the last 30 years. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2007 about 60,000 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the United States and more than 8,000 patients will die from melanoma. The exact cause of melanoma is not always clear, but exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight is a major risk factor. Melanoma is more likely to occur in those having fair skin, a large number of moles, a history of sun tanning or sunburns, or close relatives with the disease.

Patients whose melanoma is caught early can often be cured with surgery. However, more advanced stage 3 or 4 melanoma − which has spread beyond the original site to other parts of the body − usually requires additional medical intervention such as chemotherapy.

Because cures at this stage are rare, therapy for late stage melanoma is focused on reducing the tumor burden and hopefully increasing a patient’s length of survival. Most patients who receive standard chemotherapy experience poor long-lasting response rates and serious side effects.

“Cancer cells often evade the body’s natural disease-fighting mechanisms. The challenge in treating advanced melanoma is to find a way to train the natural immune system to locate and eliminate cancerous cells,” study investigator Dr. Sardi said. “We believe that Allovectin-7® triggers several of the body’s natural immune response mechanisms to recognize and attack the tumors, both locally and throughout the body.“

Allovectin-7® has been previously administered to over 700 cancer patients in several multi-center clinical trials.

To be eligible for the current Allovectin-7® clinical trial, patients must be at least 18 years old and have confirmed recurrent metastatic melanoma with at least one tumor large enough to inject − about the size of a pea. Patients having received previous chemotherapy for melanoma cannot participate. In addition, patients with lung lesions can be included but those with liver or brain lesions cannot. Potential study participants can determine their eligibility by visiting www.melanomatrial.com.

Approximately 375 patients will be enrolled to receive either Allovectin-7® alone or the current standard chemotherapy (dacarbazine or temozolomide) alone. Sixty-seven percent of enrolled patients will be randomly assigned to receive Allovectin-7® and 33 percent will receive chemotherapy. Allovectin-7® will be administered by a weekly injection into the tumor for six consecutive weeks. The injection cycle may be repeated every eight weeks. Participants will be closely monitored to assess disease status, safety and tolerability. Patients whose melanoma does not clinically progress will be encouraged to continue on the trial and be assessed for up to two years.

Dalliah Black, M.D., Joins the Hoffberger Breast Center at Mercy Medical Center
(Baltimore, MD) – Breast surgeon Dalliah Mashon Black, M.D., has joined the staff at The Hoffberger Breast Center at Mercy, Dr. Neil B. Friedman, Director of the Center, has announced. Dr. Black is board certified by the American Board of Surgery.

Previously Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, Dr. Black received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in 1998. Following her internship in general surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Dr. Black completed her residency at the University of North Carolina Hospitals at Chapel Hill and her Fellowship in Breast Surgical Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

“We are extremely pleased to welcome a surgeon of Dr. Black’s caliber to our team at The Hoffberger Breast Center at Mercy. Her skill and acumen as a physician is matched only by her caring and compassion for her patients. Dr. Black has a great interest in community outreach and education. She’s a tremendous addition,” Dr. Friedman said.

Dr. Black’s professional affiliations include the American College of Surgeons, The American Society of Breast Surgeons and the Society of Surgical Oncology.

Dr. Black’s clinical interests include breast cancer tumor genetic profiling, disparities in breast cancer diagnosis and outcomes, and community breast cancer education and prevention. Her recent efforts have included evaluating the outcomes of small HER2 breast cancers and determining the usefulness of pre-operative MRI in detecting breast cancer versus the use of sentinel node biopsy in high risk patients undergoing prophylactic mastectomy.

Dr. Black has presented results on these and other topics at conferences sponsored by the Society of Surgical Oncology and the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Black has published articles in professional journals including Annals of Surgical Oncology, Surgery, The Breast Journal, and Journal of Genetic Counseling. She has a number of honors and grants to her credit, as well as clinical presentations, lectures and publications.

Mercy Medical Center Welcomes Dr. Ari M. Lieman
(Baltimore, MD) – Mercy Medical Center, home of the nationally acclaimed Weinberg Center for Women’s Health and Medicine, has welcomed Ari M. Lieman, M.D., to its clinical staff. Dr. Lieman will see patients exclusively at Overlea Personal Physicians medical group at 7602 Belair Road in Overlea, MD.

Dr. Lieman is board certified in Internal Medicine and holds certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support.

Dr. Lieman received his medical degree at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill in 1986 and completed his residency in Internal Medicine in 1989 at the UMDJ (University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey)’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Prior to joining Mercy and Overlea Personal Physicians, Dr. Lieman was a member of a full-time outpatient internal medicine practice at Kaiser Permanente in Columbia, MD. He was also Physician Director for the Provider Service Center for Kaiser Permanente/Mid-Atlantic Region.

Dr. Lieman is a member of the American College Physicians and has sat on a number of key medical and management committees relevant to such issues as urgent care, risk management, and quality improvement.

Dr. Lieman is a resident of Ellicott City, MD.

Overlea Personal Physicians is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. with select evening hours. For more information, call 410-663-8100 or go to www.overleadocs.com.

Mercy Announces Arrival of Erika Lynn Nichelson, D.O., and Carol Anne Phillips, M.D., to Practice of Drs. Teresa Hoffman and Kate Abello, OB/GYN
Carol Anne Phillips, M.D., and Erika Lynn Nichelson, D.O., have joined the practice of Drs. Teresa Hoffman and Kate Abello, OB/GYN, Mercy Medical Center has announced. Drs. Phillips and Nichelson will see patients at the practice offices in the Professional Office Building at Mercy, in Dundalk, MD and at Catonsville Personal Physicians in Catonsville, MD.

Dr. Phillips earned her medical degree from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University. She completed her residency training in obstetrics and gynecology in 1995 at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Prior to joining Dr. Hoffman’s practice, Dr. Phillips was a member of Heartland OB/GYN in Grand Island, (NE) Nebraska, providing a full array of obstetric and gynecologic services, including high risk obstetrics, antenatal testing and ultrasound, infertility evaluation and management, advanced laparoscopic and hysteroscopic techniques, gynecologic care of the cancer patient, menopause management, adolescent gynecology, chronic pain evaluation and treatment, etc. Dr. Phillips has also served as an in-house attending physician at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore.

Dr. Nichelson graduated from the Kansas City College of Osteopathic Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO in 2001. She completed internships in family medicine and OB/GYN at Akron General Medical Center and West Virginia University, respectively. Dr. Nichelson did her OB/GYN residency at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. She joins Dr. Hoffman from Lake Mary OB-GYN in Lake Mary, Florida.

Mercy Health Services, Inc., Receives Approval to Construct $400 Million Inpatient Tower Complex
“Mercy an Urban Success Story,” says Thomas R. Mullen, Mercy President & CEO
(Baltimore, MD) – Thomas R. Mullen, President and CEO of Mercy Health Services and Mercy Medical Center, on behalf of the Sisters of Mercy, has announced the hospital’s plans to construct a state-of-the-art inpatient tower complex, bordered by St. Paul, Calvert, Orleans and Pleasant Streets.

On Thursday, June 21st, Mercy was granted its Certificate of Need, a regulatory process whereby healthcare providers obtain state approval for certain new or expanded services. Mercy also received approval for the tower’s design from the Urban Design and Architecture Review Panel (UDARP), an advisory group that reviews architectural plans for major City projects.

“We are now ready to move forward with the project which will further strengthen the commitment of this institution and the Sisters of Mercy to downtown Baltimore for the next half-century,” Mr. Mullen said.

Groundbreaking for the 18-story, 672,000 square-foot tower is scheduled for spring 2008 with completion by fall 2010. Construction will occur in phases; phase one will include the relocation of services such as maternal child health, radiology and space for growth at a cost of $292 million.

“Future phases will result in a complete outfitting of all floors at a cost of over $100 million, bringing the cost of the project when fully built out to about $400 million,” Mullen said.

To complement the tower, a 1,300-space, stand-alone parking facility is already under construction at the corner of Pleasant and Davis Street and is expected to be complete by end of July and will open in August 2007.

“This announcement represents the culmination of a series of strategic plans for Mercy, from 1999 to today, focused on a primary goal—maximizing Mercy’s presence in downtown Baltimore as a leading medical institution, to ensure delivery of quality care to the community for the long-term. During this time, we’ve witnessed the unveiling of the Center for Women’s Health and Medicine, the opening of The Weinberg Center, and now our plans to construct a new inpatient tower. It is all part of a comprehensive redevelopment of the Mercy campus—Mercy is truly an urban success story,” Mullen said.

The tower will be connected to the new parking garage and to the existing medical center by a series of bridges and tunnels to facilitate public, staff and materials transportation.

“Mercy’s new tower will free space on Mercy’s campus for adding new centers of excellence, physician offices and administrative support functions,” Mullen said.

Citing a 2006 report prepared by The Jacob France Institute (Merrick School of Business, University of Baltimore), Mullen noted that upon completion, Mercy’s new tower will mean more than $123 million in economic activity annually in Baltimore City, as well as nearly 1,000 jobs and $73 million in increased salaries and benefits.

Funding for the project will come from a variety of sources, including net income from hospital operations, bonds, and a capital campaign “on par with our last major fundraising effort which brought $43 million to Mercy for building our Weinberg Center,” Mullen said.

The architectural firm of Ellerbe Becket will provide exterior and interior design, engineering, equipment planning and construction administration services. Since designing the first Mayo Clinic in 1912, Ellerbe Becket has completed new facilities and renovations for hundreds of hospitals and medical centers around the world.

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company will provide construction services for the project. Headquartered in Baltimore, Whiting-Turner is one of the country's finest construction organizations, excelling at construction management, general contracting, design-build operations, and specialty work.

Consultants for the tower project include Whitman, Requardt and Associates, LLP (civil engineering), Mahan Rykiel Associates (landscape design), and Convergent Technologies (information technology).

Mercy’s current Tower Building, the largest structure on the campus, was designed in the 1950s, long before the invention of most bedside monitoring equipment, privacy legislation an the recognition of family and friends as healing supports of patients. The Tower Building houses 12 operating rooms that have been renovated and expanded many times over the past 50 years, but are in need of replacement.

“The current tower houses over 250 inpatient beds, but most patients have to share a room. Private rooms are now the standard of care because they reduce the risk of infection, medication errors and falls, and are simply more comfortable for patients,” Mullen said.

While the current inpatient tower provides 22 beds per floor, the new building will have 32 beds per floor, “and all of these will be private rooms. In addition, the new tower will have 15 state-of-the-art operating rooms, the smallest of which will still be larger than the largest OR we currently have,” Mullen added.

“Our replacement tower project is another step forward in the implementation of Mercy's strategic plans for the entire campus. In the past year we have added a number of new centers staffed by nationally recognized physicians, like Dr. Armando Sardi and The Institute for Cancer Care,” Mullen said.

Other recent developments including the opening of the new Maryland Spine Center, The Center for Restorative Therapies, and The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital at Mercy, the new Lung Center at Mercy, and the continued expansion of the hospital’s Emergency Department.

“National trends have indicated that urban community hospitals are, by in large, in financial distress. The constraints of Medicare and Medicaid, reimbursement struggles, the rising cost to hospitals for charitable and uncompensated care, the erosion of downtown communities, particularly since 9-11, have put great strain on such hospitals. As a result, many are closing, merging with other institutions or becoming part of large systems.

“Mercy’s expansion is evidence of how one urban community hospital is bucking this trend. Not being swallowed up by large systems, but staying independent. Not just surviving, but thriving.Mercy has retained the feeling of ‘accessibility’ that comes from a community hospital, while at the same time, demonstrating the style and level of service one expects from a larger, academic institution,” Mullen said.

Mercy Health Services’ total revenues have grown from just under $190 million in fiscal year 1999 to more than $437 million in 2007. In the same time period, Mercy has seen its admissions and births rise almost 20 percent; the number of surgeries has jumped over 63 percent, and outpatient visits have risen 102 percent.

“Mercy has grown to become a regional medical institution with more than 43 percent of our patients coming from outside of Baltimore City. Anchoring the northern edge of the downtown business district, Mercy is the dominant presence with over 1.2 million square feet in space, from the Orleans viaduct to Lexington Street,” Mullen said.

Mercy Announces Changes in Corporate Affairs Division, Addition of New Personnel, Promotions
(Baltimore, MD) – Mercy Medical Center’s Corporate Affairs Division has been renamed Mercy Health Services Property Management in light of changes in roles and responsibilities as Mercy’s campus continues to expand and in light of other capital projects, Judy Weiland, Senior Vice President of Property Management, has announced.

Bel Air, MD resident Mike Baldwin has been named Vice President of Construction and Property Management and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of construction efforts relative to Mercy’s $400 million replacement in-patient tower complex. Mr. Baldwin will coordinate with vendors, consultants and contractors involved with renovation and construction projects at Mercy Medical Center, Stella Maris, and other entities part of Mercy Health Services, Inc.

Prior to Mercy, Mr. Baldwin worked at Stella Maris for more than 21 years, overseeing the renovations of the Hospice Unit and construction at Mercy Ridge, the senior living community on the Stella Maris campus in Timonium, MD, among other projects.

Judy Fortin has been promoted to Senior Director of Capital Projects for Mercy. In her new position, Ms. Fortin will coordinate all aspects related to capital projects, providing oversight for construction schedules, architect, contractor and vendor management, and budgets. In addition, she will serve as the liaison to the staff and departments affected by construction and/or renovation projects.

“I am very pleased to welcome Mike Baldwin to our team and to see Judy Fortin in her new role as head of Capital Projects. Both are devoted to advancing the mission of The Sisters of Mercy to bring compassionate care to those in need. They are exceedingly precise and detailed and will be especially effective in their roles,” Ms. Weiland said.

Ms. Weiland also noted the contributions of her staff, including Karen Fox, Capital Projects Purchasing Manager; Lola Ale, Capital Projects Coordinator and Cathy McDonald, Executive Assistant.

Stephen Schenkel, M.D., Named Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mercy Medical Center
(Baltimore, MD) -- Stephen Schenkel, M.D., MPP, has been appointed Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Scott Spier, Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs, has announced.

Board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Schenkel is a member of the Department of Emergency Medicine of the University of Maryland where he also serves as an Assistant Professor.

Dr. Schenkel received his B.A. from Yale University, and his Masters in Public Policy and Medical Doctorate from Harvard University. He trained and was chief resident at one of our country’s strongest Emergency Medicine Departments, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He was chair of the recently concluded Emergency Department Patient Safety Collaborative.

 “Dr. Schenkel’s commitment to patient care and safety, quality services, and operational efficiency, his strong work ethic, and his obvious dedication to the mission of Mercy, make him an ideal choice for the position. Steve recognizes and embraces the central role that the Emergency Department plays in patient care, and the central role that it plays for other hospital departments and referring physicians, as well as for patients,” Dr. Spier said.

Dr. Schenkel sits on a number of key committees at Mercy, including Mercy’s Quality Council and the Emergency Department Quality Assurance Committee. He has numerous professional memberships, including the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Medical Association, and the Society for Academic Emergency medicine.

Dr. Schenkel is on the board of the Maryland Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, which named him Emergency Physician of the Year (2005). He was named Mercy Medical Center Emergency Department Teacher of the Year in 2006.

Dr. Schenkel has many medical publications, book chapters, journal articles and abstracts to his credit.

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