Page 13 - Stuart Exposure - May '23

Stuart Exposure, Page 13

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Tampa General Hospital “Dr. Padhya saved all the nerves in my face and

Bridges The Gap removed all the cancer because he and Dr. Schwarzberg
were so on top of everything,” Barnes said. “I was worried
To Complex Cancer Care I was going to come out looking like Frankenstein, so it’s
really amazing I look as much like Brad Pitt as I do now.”
When Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast East Coast patients that need a transfer to TGH enjoy
residents need specialized cancer treatments, they now a seamless transition to Tampa through the hospital’s
enjoy a seamless connection to the TGH Cancer Institute. Health Ambassador Program, which helps schedule
By Chris Curtland appointments, submit paperwork, arrange hotel and travel
Palm Beach Gardens resident Arthur “Steve” Barnes accommodations, and coordinate follow-up care back home.
has been battling various types of skin cancer since 1981. “This is the experience that we offer our patients on
His 42-year journey has taken him to dermatologists, the East Coast of Florida,” explained Padhya. “The home
radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists, and last team of doctors in Palm Beach County establishes the
year, it took him to Tampa General Hospital (TGH). initial trust with the patient and provides the ongoing care
“Most of my cancer has been pretty easy to treat – Steve Barnes and Dr. Tapan Padhya greeting a guest at 364 days of the year, and then I come in for the surgical
basal cell carcinoma and even squamous cell. But about Tampa General Hospital’s recent community event in Jupiter event. But it’s a continuum of care. The TGH network
three or four years ago, it started to get aggressive. It got has flourished and bridged the gap across the state.”
complex,” Barnes explained. “I’ve been so blessed to treatment puzzle in Palm Beach County, but the lack of a Barnes credits his successful outcome to the entire
have doctors who cooperate with or work at TGH.” unified, academic backbone limits access to translational medical team, but also, his family. His wife, daughter, and
Barnes’ local dermatologist and surgeon referred research, clinical work, and new drug development. Our son participated in his telehealth visits and encouraged
him to Dr. Abraham Schwarzberg, a Palm Beach County relationship with TGH and the University of South Florida him throughout the process.
medical oncologist who serves as TGH’s chief of the has been invaluable for our patients.” “My family and prayer warriors pushed me to keep
Cancer Institute, executive vice president of Network Dr. Schwarzberg referred Barnes to Dr. Tapan Padhya, going when it got discouraging. My wife hugged me when
Development, and vice president of Clinical and TGH’s Chief for the Ear, Nose, and Throat Institute, I needed it during the battles with chemo and radiation.
Translational Research. and Professor and Chairman for the Department of They prayed for me and for the doctors to do a good
“There are a lot of things about TGH that are unique Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at University of job,” said Barnes. “And I can’t say enough about how
and important, as well as hard to appreciate until you South Florida (USF) Health Morsani College of Medicine. wonderful the medical staff was. They treated me like I
need a certain level of care,” said Schwarzberg. “There Padhya performed a surgical intervention on Barnes in was their grandfather or father. There’s something that
are wonderful physicians and pieces of the cancer Tampa within one month of first seeing him. Theodore Roosevelt once said that could be a theme for
this hospital: ‘No one cares how much you know until
they know how much you care.’ TGH really cared about
my case.”
Patients like Barnes now have access to the complex
care they need in the environment where they need it.
“The continuity and integration is so valuable because
we don’t have that in our backyard,” Schwarzberg added.
“But now we have it as an extension, and patients can
come back home to heal.”
For more information, please visit TGH.org/
ThePalmBeaches or call (561) 739-4TGH.

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