County Lands Prominent Heart Center: Surgeon to Move Foundation From New York

By Glenn Singer, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Jan. 26–A surgeon who frequently preaches wellness on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show plans to establish a headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens for a foundation that promotes scientific research and cutting-edge treatments for heart failure.

“The community is very sophisticated and seems willing to embrace our ideas. And we believe there is a good donor base here,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, who created the nonprofit Foundation for the Advancement of Cardiac Therapies, told about 400 members attending the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County’s quarterly luncheon in Palm Beach Gardens on Thursday.

Planned relocation of the six-year-old foundation from New York City represents a continued effort by the development board to create a life sciences center in the county. Last year’s decision by The Scripps Research Institute to build a permanent campus in Jupiter for its Florida division was the first in what county and local officials hope will be a continuing series of announcements related to new companies and high-paying jobs.

Initial projections call for a capital investment of $20 million and an unspecified cost for the interior of the building. The business board predicts 77 jobs will be created during the first year at an average of $84,000, twice the county’s $42,000 average wage. The foundation, known as FACT, is searching for at least 12 acres in Palm Beach Gardens, where it would build a 44,000-square-foot medical research center. The mini-campus also could serve as a one-stop clearinghouse for patients who need such diverse health care as detection of risk factors, cholesterol management, nutritional counseling, exercise programs and lifestyle management, Oz said.

Doctors affiliated with the foundation would assess patients’ medical conditions, prescribe medications and determine whether surgery is necessary — just like physicians elsewhere. But they also would focus on complementary treatments such as aromatherapy, massage, acupuncture and yoga. Some could receive stipends to supplement their billings, Oz said.

“When looking at the big picture, this company will have a very strong impact on the county’s economy,” said Kelly Smallridge, president of the development board. Added County Commissioner Karen Marcus, whose district includes Palm Beach Gardens: “This is another jewel in our cap.”

The development board estimated that, taking into account products and services required by the foundation, its operations would generate more than $24 million in annual economic activity.

Oz and his associates initially approached Palm Beach Gardens officials, and they referred the group to the development board. Discussions have been under way since July, though the foundation will not receive state or county incentives for job creation, board officials said.According to the foundation’s Web site, FACT “has developed an integrative approach, working closely with persons stricken with heart disease [and] health care professionals who serve patients in need.”

The site notes that “FACT runs philanthropy like a business. Instead of raising money and waiting for excellent research concepts to be submitted by investigators, FACT creates an efficient plan for advancing a very specific agenda and approaches promising researchers to fulfill this mission.”

The foundation also would house Oz’s HealthCorps program, which educates youngsters about diet, nutrition and exercise.

“HealthCorps empowers children to become educated consumers and to make shifts in behavior that can be measured by changes in rates of obesity and physical fitness as well as mental well-being and self esteem,” he said.

Oz, 46, whose TV credits include Larry King Live and Good Morning America, is the co-author of three books with collaborator Dr. Michael Roizen, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at The Cleveland Clinic.

Oz, an associate professor at Columbia University, performs more than 350 heart surgeries a year. In addition to his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, he holds a master of business administration from the Wharton School at that university.

Glenn Singer can be reached at gsinger@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6612.

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Copyright (c) 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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