A planned 100,000-square-foot medical center reflects the promise and purpose of a transformative alliance between the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and Baptist Health. The collaboration is already reshaping health care in South Florida, the Sunshine State’s most populous region.
Ideal partners
Baptist is the largest not-for-profit health care organization in the region with 12 hospitals, more than 28,000 employees and more than 200 outpatient and urgent care facilities across four counties. For years it has led clinical rotations for FIU medical students in 40 specialties and subspecialties. Now it will become a statutory teaching hospital with the goal of attracting highly specialized physicians to lead groundbreaking research and clinical innovation.
FIU students, including those in other health programs, will benefit from the increased research as well as from a collaboration with the Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health. The alliance will also streamline residency training and reduce redundancies. Programs beginning in 2025 include internal medicine and neurology – specialty areas where Florida is experiencing a current supply/demand deficit – as well as diagnostic radiology.
Teaching hospitals carry a host of positives for the region in which they are located, among them greater retention of the physician residents they train. And when physicians attend medical school and complete a residency in the same city, the numbers jump even higher. Nearly 80% of those who complete medical school and residency in the same city settle there, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
“This collaboration is a testament to our shared commitment to pioneering healthcare solutions,” says Dr. Jack Ziffer, Baptist Health executive vice president and chief clinical officer, “creating a culture of continuous learning and innovation, and providing compassionate, highest-quality care for our community.”
FIU’s status as a top-tier (Carnegie R1) research university promises continuous, high-level investigations between the two institutions. Teaching hospitals by their nature encourage physicians to find innovative solutions to medical problems, and studies show that patients treated at academic medical centers have better outcomes.
Priority research areas include pulmonary vascular disease, environmental sciences and toxicology, drug discovery and nanotherapeutics, immunology and neurological disorders, and translational glycobiology.
A campus clinical building
Just as the Florida Legislature nearly two decades ago supported establishing the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, it applauded the alliance with Baptist by appropriating $100 million in initial funding for the campus building that will serve as a foundation for much of what’s ahead. Completion is expected in 2028.
The new medical center will cater to those in nearby neighborhoods seeking primary and specialty clinical health services and provide opportunities for interdisciplinary health science education for the university’s academic programs in not just medicine but nursing, social work, public health and the allied health sciences.
FIU President Kenneth A. Jessell emphasizes the significance of the partnership in raising health care standards. “There is a great deal of excitement around this collaboration because it elevates the work both FIU and Baptist are doing. We are creating a rich ecosystem that will result in some of the best health care in the nation.”
It will be a transformative partnership for the college of medicine, for FIU, for Baptist and really, for the community and we will measure our impact in the number of lives we touch. — Dr. Juan Cendan Dean, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine
Top specialist in robic cardiac surgery joins FIU-Baptist team
As part of their strategic alliance, FIU and Baptist Health have committed to recruiting top-tier talent in a variety of fields. Recently, internationally renowned Dr. Makoto Hashimoto was appointed director of robotic cardiac surgery at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. Previously, he served as director of the Center of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery and Robotic Cardiac Surgery at Sapporo Heart Center in Japan.
Hashimoto specializes in robotic and minimally invasive cardiac procedures, which he will perform at Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute. Such alternatives to traditional open-heart surgery expose patients to significantly lower risk of infection and other side effects to allow for a faster, easier recovery. Conditions he treats include coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, cardiac arrhythmia and adult congenital cardiac disease.
A recognized innovator, Hashimoto is further distinguished for having taught robotic surgery to physicians at hospitals throughout his homeland, promoting safety and efficiency in the use of the powerful, next-generation medicine. He will bring his wide experience of guiding others to both his new clinical practice and educational responsibilities. Colleagues and students will also benefit from his experience as the former head of one of Japan’s largest heart programs.
Born in Finland and raised in Japan, Hashimoto welcomes his relocation halfway around the world. “I really love the international atmosphere of Florida,” he says, “and it is an honor to be able to contribute to patients here.”