FIU Health adds branch in Broward County

Alyssa Elso/Contributing Writer

For more than a year, FIU Health physicians have provided state-of-the-art, comprehensive care to patients at the Modesto Maidique Faculty Group Practice. Now, the practice is moving on up–to Broward County.

The Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine’s Faculty Group Practice has expanded into Broward County with its second practice at the Broward Health Medical Center.

In partnering with Broward Health, FIU is expanding access to health care and increasing the learning opportunities for its medical students.

Feb. 15, 2013 marked the grand opening of the new practice, which is initially focused on providing outpatient psychiatric services to children, adolescents and adults through the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders.

“The practice currently has two doctors, who specialize in child, adolescent and adult psychiatry, as well as substance abuse,” said Dr. Daniel Castellanos, professor and founding chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. “We also have a licensed clinical therapist on staff, and hope to add specialty group therapy in the future.”

According to Castellanos, in April, the practice will add family medicine services.

Board certified psychiatrists, Dr. Leonard Gralnik, practicing psychiatrist for twenty years, and Dr. Christopher La Riche, who specializes in adult psychiatry, are both faculty members at the Wertheim College of Medicine. Along with Katie Santana, licensed clinical social worker, the trio are currently physicians at the FGP in Broward.

With its main clinical practice located at MMC, FIU Health-Broward, Castellanos said, “Serves to provide to the Broward County community, as its location is more accessible to residents of Broward and North Miami-Dade.”

FIU Health-Broward will not only treat patients, but also serve as an educational venue for third year medical students, who will soon begin their rotations within the practice. “Medical students will rotate through our practice as part of their third year psychiatry clerkships,” said Gralnik.

“Our department uses the Broward Health Medical Center as a training ground for medical students,” said Gralnik, as FIU students have been receiving clinical training from physicians in a variety of specialties at Broward Health for the past three years.

“In the future we will expand to also provide primary care services to serve as an integrated provider of multidisciplinary medical care for our patients,” said Gralnik. “We also expect to grow and expand our psychiatry staff.”

Among the practices most commonly treated conditions are: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, reckless behavior, school difficulties, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, alcohol or drug abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and psychotic disorders including schizophrenia.

Appointments are currently available Monday through Friday.

news@fiusm.com