ABRAZO HEALTH CARE ANNOUNCES NEW DIRECTOR OF CLINICIAL AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH

6/20/2012 12:00:00 AM

PHOENIX (June 19, 2012) -- Abrazo Health Care is pleased to announce Patricia Ames, PhD, CCRC as director of the organization’s new Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI). Abrazo Health Care includes six hospitals, two emergency centers, two health plans and 20 primary care clinics throughout the Valley.

Dr. Ames comes to Abrazo Health Care with more than 19 years of experience in the field of clinical research where she most recently served as the director of clinical research for Aptium Oncology, Inc., in Culver City, Calif.

In this new role, Dr. Ames will oversee the operational and logistical tasks of research efforts for all Abrazo Health Care facilities. In the upcoming year, she will focus on determining what services researchers across the health system need beyond what Abrazo CTRI currently offers. The CTRI was created in 2011 to help coordinate operation of industry-sponsored clinical research for Abrazo-employed physicians and to facilitate regulatory and legal requirements related to research done at all Abrazo hospitals. Ames will also focus on opportunities to increase the research marketing efforts, raising awareness and providing greater access to research for all our patients in the region.

Abrazo Health Care is actively participating in 48 clinical research trials, 25 of which are being conducted at Abrazo’s Arizona Heart Institute.

“Dr. Ames’ invaluable analytical and leadership skills will certainly provide growth in advancing the Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI) at Abrazo Health Care and continue to build a world class research center as she has successfully done with research institutes in the past,” said Tyna Williams, vice president chief quality officer.

Prior to her role at Aptium Oncology, Inc., Dr. Ames served as the operations manager of the clinical trials office at the Los Angeles Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases. She also served as the director of clinical research education at St. Jude’s Research Hospital in Tennessee. Her work has included research at several of the top hospitals and cancer institutes in the United States and has contributed her knowledge and expertise to numerous field-related abstracts, publications and speaking events.

Dr. Ames holds a master’s degree in Public Administration-Health Care and is a certified clinical research coordinator. In addition, Dr. Ames holds a PhD in Public Health Epidemiology from Walden University.

About Abrazo Health Care
As the second largest health care delivery system in Arizona, Abrazo Health Care is committed to providing excellent medical care to the residents of Maricopa County. The Abrazo system includes five acute care hospitals: Arrowhead Hospital, Maryvale Hospital, Paradise Valley Hospital, Phoenix Baptist Hospital and West Valley Hospital; and one specialized cardiovascular hospital, Arizona Heart Hospital; with a combined 1,027 licensed beds. In addition the system consists of two health plans: Phoenix Health Plan, and Abrazo Advantage, serving nine counties in the state; School-Based Health Centers; and Abrazo Medical Group with 70 employed physicians in 19 Valley locations. Visit www.abrazohealth.com for more information.

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