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Let’s Connect: Michael Greco Receives AANA’s

ACHE of South Florida 42nd Annual Helen Lamb
Spotlight Outstanding Educator Award

The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) presented
Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) Michael Greco, PhD, DNP,
ACHE of South Florida CRNA, with the 42nd Annual Helen Lamb Outstanding Educator Award during
its 2021 Virtual Congress. The Helen Lamb Outstanding Educator Award,
established in 1980, is presented to a CRNA who has made a significant contri-
Member Spotlight: bution to the education of nurse anesthetists. The award recognizes the indi-
vidual’s commitment to the profession of nurse anesthesia and to the advance-
Kristen Palanza, ment of educational standards that further the art and science of anesthesiology
and result in high-quality patient care.
Vice President, Development Greco is the founding program director at the Hofstra University-Hofstra-
Northwell graduate program in nurse anesthesia in Hempstead, NY. In this
Park Shore Drug Inc. position, he developed the Doctor of Nursing Practice, Adult-Gerontology
Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist program.
It is the first and only program in the United States preparing Doctor of Nursing
Kristen Palanza
Practice (DNPs) to become dual-certified as CRNAs and Adult-Gerontology
Acute Care Nurse Practitioners (AGACNPs), providing the educational back-
BY VANESSA ORR training program that Park Shore ground for them to function at the highest level in clinical practice and increas-
recently initiated for employees to ing access to care and cost-saving to healthcare facilities. The inaugural cohort
Kristen Palanza knows the impor- ensure appropriate staffing ratios. will be starting in September 2021.
tance of finding common ground “Finding the right people with appro- Prior to starting that program, he served for many years as program director
between different groups of healthcare priate certifications in this COVID envi- of the nurse anesthesia graduate program at Columbia University School of
professionals. ronment is excruciating,” said Palanza Nursing in New York. Greco also is a reviewer for accreditation for CRNA pro-
As the vice president of development of the positions that require staff to pay grams through the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational
for Park Shore Drug Inc., a privately to attend classes to receive certification. Programs, and he chaired the AANA Professional Development Committee
owned long-term care pharmacy, she “We decided to eliminate that obsta- from 2018-2020. He practices clinically at Northwell Health in New York,
straddles the line between internal cle by registering our own technicians where he is assistant vice president for System Nurse Anesthesia Services.
pharmacy operations and external and offering our own educational pro- Greco is a graduate with a PhD in nursing from Barry University in Miami
client affairs. As a board member of the gram,” she added. “Once they graduate, Shores, FL. He earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of
American College of Healthcare they can file for technician license reg- Alabama in Tuscaloosa and completed his master’s degree in nurse anesthesia at
Executives (ACHE) for the past nine istration within the state of Florida and SUNY Health Science Center in Brooklyn. He received a bachelor’s degree in
years, she also understands how inter- work within the full scope of their new nursing from Niagara University in Niagara Falls, NY.
connected every aspect of the health- license. It’s been extremely beneficial.”
care field is. Palanza joined ACHE while finishing
“I love working with the team at the her master’s degree and believes that it
pharmacy while also serving as the out- has helped her excel in her position.
ward-facing person for nurses and own- “My ACHE membership is the most
ers of long-term care facilities,” she valuable thing I’ve ever done,” she said. Delray Medical Center
explained. “My job is to make things “For me, it’s not about career advance-
better and easier for our clients, and in ment—it’s about learning. My ACHE Is the First Hospital in South Palm
this role, I also serve as a patient advo- colleagues make me a better leader.
cate. “When I first joined ACHE, it was Beach County to Use the CORI™
“The long-term facilities look out for more hospital-centric/hospital-driven,
their residents, many of whom can’t so people wondered why a long-term
speak for themselves, and we do, too,” care pharmacy would want to be a Surgical System for Knee
she continued, noting that many of the part,” she added. “But healthcare is
people they serve have intellectual or more interconnected than it appears— Replacement Surgery
developmental disabilities. “That’s why every single facet, from hospitals to
reducing medication errors is one of our home care to acute care settings— Delray Medical Center is the
top priorities; everything we do is in the depends on each other. So knowing first hospital in South Palm Beach
best interest of the residents.” about what other operations are doing County to use the CORI™
Palanza earned her undergraduate is essential to us doing our best job.” Surgical System for knee replace-
degree in speech pathology at the She added that being aware of what’s ment surgery. Dr. Curtis Kephart
University of Florida and her master’s in happening in the larger healthcare pic- is the first orthopedic surgeon to
Healthcare Administration from Florida ture can help companies stay ahead of use this new technology at the
Atlantic University. the pack. “One of the things that keeps hospital. The CORI™ Surgical
“I always knew that I wanted to serve us on our toes is the intensely competi- System uses handheld robotics-
in a healthcare capacity but learned tive landscape in Florida; if you’re not assisted technology that helps the
through a series of different internships on the cusp of technological advance- surgeon plan and perform the
that my skill set was much better suited ment, customer service and best clinical procedure. It also gives surgeons
for an administrative role—my goal is practices, you stand to lose,” she said. a three-dimensional view to help
to eliminate obstacles for the internal “We are constantly motivated to finalize and verify the selection of
team in order to enable our best exter- improve—there is no snooze button at the knee implant and create a
nal, patient-centric performance,” she Park Shore,” she added. “And working plan for surgery without the need
said. with other dynamic leaders helps keep for either a CT scan or MRI.
One example of this is a technician us at our best.”
Robotics-assisted knee replace-
ment surgery using the CORI TM
Surgical System can lead to the following patient benefits:
• Quicker, smoother recovery
• Regain function faster and return home sooner
• A unique 3D digital model to get a surgical plan customized to the patients’
E-mail Your Editorial Submissions to unique anatomy. The surgeon can perform the procedure more accurately than tradi-
tional knee replacement surgery.
• A natural fit: Using these technologies patients can keep more of their natural
editorial@southfloridahospitalnews.com bone and ligaments, including the ACL. 6 That helps maintain more of a natural
rhythm and step.
• A wide selection: The surgeon is able to choose from the widest selection of
implants available, so implants can be precision-matched to feel more like a patient’s
own knee.

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