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What’s New... What’s New... What’s New...

Army Vet Starts Micro-Farm Lee Health Opens County’s First Freestanding

in Palm Beach County Emergency Department in Estero

Life in urban areas has With the first freestanding
many benefits but it also emergency department in
comes with some challenges. Lee County, Lee Health
The loss of green space and Coconut Point has officially
the rise in food deserts has opened its doors to patients,
motivated people living in bringing emergency care
urban areas to explore innova- closer to home for Estero and
tive ways to engage in small- Bonita Springs residents. Lee
scale agricultural projects Health Coconut Point is Lee
such as micro-farming. Dr. Health’s new 163,500 square-
Debra Marcelle-Coney, a U.S. foot, cutting-edge outpatient facility.
Army veteran, saw the need The 24-hour emergency department at Lee Health Coconut Point is located on the
for micro-farming in her com- southwest side of the building and features:
munity and decided to take • Sixteen exam rooms and nine rooms for short-stay observation.
action by collaborating with • On-site ambulance transportation quarters if patients need to be transported to a
community partners to develop Dr. Debra Marcelle-Coney (far right) pictured here hospital.
the Veterans Community with (l-r) Community volunteers Andy Ansola, • Telemedicine that helps link patients with specialists, such as neurologists for
Micro-Farm Project. Community Liaison for Recovery First; Simone Hoover, patients suffering from stroke
“As a woman veteran who Soldiers Angels; Art Kirstein, PBC Cooperative
works with fellow veterans in a Extension Economic Development Agriculture FAU Brain Institute Fellows Receive More than
clinical setting and as a begin- Coordinator; and Kimberly Wier, J.P. Morgan Chase
ning farmer, I feel it is my duty $1.1 Million from Florida Department of Health
to assist veterans and other
interested individuals in learning how to grow their own veggies, herbs or fruit,”
Marcelle-Coney explained. “The Veterans Community Micro-Farm Project is designed Research fellows from the Florida Atlantic University Brain Institute – one of the
to foster relationships, stimulate camaraderie and encourage unity in our local areas.” university’s four research pillars – have received a total of $1,137,227 from the Florida
Marcelle-Coney who is also an addictions therapist at the West Palm Beach VA Department of Health’s Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program,
Medical Center added more talents to her already extensive resume by becoming a cer- which supports research leading to the prevention and possible cure for AD as well as
tified horticulturalist and establishing the Community Faith Outreach Ministries better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment (announcement from Florida Gov. Rick
organization. She established the non-profit organization with like-minded individu- Scott). “Florida is No. 1 in per capita cases of Alzheimer’s disease in the United
als who are grounded in their faith with have a strong willingness to give back to their States,” said Randy D. Blakely, Ph.D., director of FAU’s Brain Institute. “Members of
local community. Marcelle-Coney and her team spearheaded the creation of the the FAU Brain Institute are addressing and tackling all aspects of Alzheimer’s disease
Veterans Community Micro-Farm Project through a collaboration with Palm Beach from behavior to biomedicine and engineering. The funding support that we have
County Cooperative Extension Agriculture Economic Development, Palm Beach received from the Florida Department of Health is a testament to the cutting-edge
County Libraries and the Quantum Foundation. research in Alzheimer’s disease biology and interventions that is taking place through-
Volunteers from the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, Soldiers’ Angels and out our university and will help us to continue to address a disease that takes a
Recovery first worked together to install the first Veterans Community Micro-Farm on tremendous toll on patients, their families and society.”
November 12, 2018 at the West Boca Library. According to Marcelle-Coney, it is the
first of its kind in the southeast region of the United States. Marcus Neuroscience Institute Partners with
Community Faith plans to provide regular produce distributions from the micro-
farm to two area organizations who assist veterans experiencing homelessness. The West Palm Beach VA as a Veteran Healthcare
organization will also conduct informational sessions on diseases such as diabetes,
lung and heart cancers and mood disorders; and use the project to promote healthy Provider Under Mission Act
eating, education and training.
Marcelle-Coney says that Community Faith will also provide samples of fresh pro-
duce to individuals and families who attend the monthly informational sessions on The Marcus Neuroscience Institute (MNI) at Boca Raton Regional Hospital (BRRH)
diseases and practical ways to prevent them through their 2-tier service delivery has partnered with the West Palm Beach Veterans Administration Medical Center
process. (VAMC) to establish a Neurology and Neurosurgery alliance in accordance with the
When asked about her expectations for the future, Marcelle-Coney says that she Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Mission Act of 2018. The partnership guarantees local veterans
hopes more people will join in growing healthy produce in their own yards, pooling have access to high-quality and cost-effective neurological care. The collaboration
their resources together, seeing the results of their labor and enjoying the benefits of will open lines of communication to better track patient progress and outcomes. A
a healthy mind, body and overall well-being. She also hopes the concept of the joint committee with representatives from both BRRH and VAMC will be formed to
Veterans Community Micro-Farm spreads throughout Palm Beach County and the accurately measure the impact of this relationship. Metrics will be reviewed on a
country. quarterly basis by the number of veterans served, timeliness for initial consultation
to procedure, complication rate, 30-day readmission rate and patient satisfaction.

Florida Medical Center Donates Toys

to the Community

Florida Medical
Center partnered
with City of
Lauderdale Lakes
and the Broward
Sheriff’s Office to
gather up toys for
boys and girls who
are in need during
this holiday sea-
son. “We are so
pleased to be able to participate in providing toys to those children in the community
who need it most to ensure that they have a nice holiday season,” said Jeffrey M.
Welch, Chief Executive Officer of Florida Medical Center. The toys will be divided
amongst many families in need throughout the community so they can all have a mag-
ical holiday.

South Florida Hospital News southfloridahospitalnews.com January 2019 29