If you would like to speak with one of our expert sources, please contact:
Rebecca Gallant
Vice President, Communications
216.696.8408
rgallant@sistersofcharityhealth.org
Chris L. Adelman, MD
In 1987 Dr. Adelman moved to Cleveland from Oklahoma to become Medical Director of Rosary Hall Alcohol and Drug Addiction Program at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. Dr. Adelman attended undergraduate and medical school at the University of Oklahoma. He is on the faculty of the Case Western Reserve University Family Medicine residency program. In 1979 he began his medical practice in Montana as an emergency room physician and within a few years became the first medical director of his hospital’s addiction treatment program. Dr. Adelman is board certified in emergency medicine and continues to work in one of our local Emergency Departments. Dr. Adelman and his associate Dr. Ted Parran also provide addiction services to Harbor Light, Cleveland Treatment Center (methadone maintenance), Windsor-Laurelwood Hospital, Stella Maris alcohol and drug addiction treatment center and provide consultative services at several other treatment programs in Northeast Ohio. In 1990, Dr. Adelman and Parran started an addiction medicine fellowship (or training program) for physicians. They have trained more than 35 family practice, psychiatric, internal medicine, OB/GYN and pediatric physicians, many of whom are practicing in the Cleveland area.
In support of a countywide approach to the heroin epidemic: Ted Parran and Chris Adelman
Spike in opioid overdoses straining hospitals, rehab facilities
Michael B. Canales, DPM
Program Surgeon, Co-Director Podiatric Surgery Residency Program
Dr. Michael Canales specializes in advanced podiatric medicine and surgery, providing complete medical and surgical care for injuries and conditions of the foot and ankle. His special interests include reconstructive surgery of the foot and ankle, trauma of the foot and ankle and sports medicine of the foot and ankle.
Dr. Canales holds a degree in podiatric medicine from Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine and a bachelor's degree in molecular genetics from The Ohio State University. He completed his residency training in podiatric medicine and surgery at St. Vincent Charity Hospital. Dr. Canales has co-authored several published works and serves as a national speaker on numerous podiatric medicine and surgery topics.
In addition, Dr. Canales is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Podiatric Medical Association, the Ohio Podiatric Medical Association and the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.
Fashion Tips from a Foot and Ankle Specialist
Cleveland doctor has unique insight on Olympic gymnastics
John S. Collis, MD
Neurosurgery Co-Director, The Spine and Orthopedic Institute
Dr. John Collis Named to “90 Spine Surgeon Device Inventors & Innovators to Know” list
Louis Keppler, MD
Orthopedic Surgery Co-Director, The Spine and Orthopedic Institute
Board-certified in orthopedic surgery, Dr. Keppler's clinical practice is broad, encompassing sports medicine, spinal reconstructive surgery, scoliosis surgery and joint replacement. Dr. Keppler completed a fellowship in pediatric orthopedics and spinal surgery at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, and residency training in orthopedic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. He has a medical degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine. Dr. Keppler's dynamic professional practice includes serving as Medical Director for the Cleveland Indians from 2002 to 2003 and he has been a Team Orthopedic Surgeon with the club since 1991. A consultant to orthopedic device developers, Dr. Keppler is involved in implant and instrument design and ongoing clinical research. Dr. Keppler is the Clinical Surgical Research Adviser to the Joint Implant Surgery and Research Foundation and serves on the foundation's Tissue-Sparing Implant Study Group.
Karen Komondor, RN, CCRN
Chair, Health Literacy Institute
Director of Education
As Director since 2003, Karen is responsible for all aspects of staff and program development and Patient Education. She has more than 30 years experience as a Registered Nurse in a variety of roles including critical care staff nurse, fixed wing air transport nurse and critical care educator. From her many years of experience with patients, she recognized the importance of Health Literacy’s relationship to patient care and was the first to coordinate a system-wide program that served to promote Health literacy awareness. Funded by the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, SVCMC began its Health Literacy Initiative in 2007 in collaboration with Project: Learn, Greater Cleveland’s premier adult literacy center. Since that time, Karen has led the initiative with a goal to promote Health Literacy across the continuum of patient care. Karen received Project: Learn’s Individual Friend of Health Literacy Award in April, 2010.
Doctors, nurses and others learn to better communicate at health-literacy conference
Ted Parran, Jr., MD, FACP
Associate Medical Director of Rosary Hall
Addiction Medicine
Dr. Ted Parran pursues several areas of special interest in medical education including Dr – Patient Communication, Faculty Development, Continuing Medical Education, and Addiction Medicine. In addition Dr. Parran is certified by the American Society on Addiction Medicine and his group practice provides medical directorship services to several Substance Abuse treatment programs in northeast Ohio, including Rosary Hall at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. He is the co-director of the Foundations of Clinical Medicine Course teaching Dr-Pt Communications / Clinical Interviewing / Clinical Reasoning / Physical Diagnosis / Professionalism / and Dr-Pt Relationship skills to students and residents.
Dr. Parran is also the medical director of the Program in Continuing Medical Education, and in 2008 was named as the Carter and Isabel Wang Professor of Medical Education, all at CWRU School of Medicine. He is a 1974 graduate from Hawken School, a 1978 graduate with honors in History from Kenyon College and a 1982 graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the Baltimore City Hospital of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Parran was selected to be the Medical Chief Resident for one year following his residency, and received the Outstanding Faculty Teacher Award from the Department of Medicine in 1987. In 1988 he returned to Cleveland and CWRU School of Medicine.
Let’s Face Heroin Campaign – A public service of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office
Treating Opiate Addiction in Cuyahoga County – St. Vincent Charity Today Newsletter
In support of a countywide approach to the heroin epidemic: Ted Parran and Chris Adelman
David F. Perse, MD
President and CEO
General Surgery
Wound Care
David F. Perse, M.D., was named President of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in April 2011 and CEO in February 2012. A board-certified general surgeon, he came to St. Vincent Charity from Lutheran Hospital, where he was on the medical staff for 25 years. He also served as President of Lutheran Hospital and as Regional Director of Wound Care for the Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals. In his role of President and CEO, Dr. Perse leads the operations and implementation of the strategic direction of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, ensuring the continued quality, service excellence, financial strength and growth of the Medical Center. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and The Ohio State University School of Medicine. He was a resident at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. A native Clevelander, Dr. Perse, who continues his surgical practice at St. Vincent Charity, is a member of the Academy of Medicine, American College of Surgeons, Society of American Gastroinstestinal Endoscopic Surgeons and the Cleveland Slovenian Business and Professional Association.
David Perse, president of St. Vincent's, packs his days with patients as well as meetings
Keyvan Ravakhah, MD, MBA
Internal Medicine
Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program
Director of Research
Dr. Ravakhah practices internal medicine and serves as the program director of the Internal Medicine Residency. He came to St. Vincent Charity from Huron Hospital, where he served as chairman of the Department of Medicine and had previously served as program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. He received his medical degree from Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, and completed his residency at Huron Hospital. He also earned his MBA from Case Western Reserve University and completed a General Internal Medicine Faculty Development Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Ravakhah has written extensively on a number of topics, including palliative care, congestive heart failure and infectious diseases. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Joel D. Siegal, MD
Neurosurgery
A program surgeon for the Spine and Orthopedic Institute at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center, Dr. Siegal performs brain, spine and peripheral nerve procedures. He has been an assistant clinical professor at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) since 2000 and serves as a consultant to Depuy Spine, a Johnson & Johnson Company. He has written extensively on neurosurgical issues and has a special interest in vertebral body augmentation for the treatment of compression fractures. He also has an expertise in intracranial work, surgical pain procedures, and the surgical management of complex spine problems. He is a member of the Ohio State Medical Association, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, North American Spine Society and American Medical Association.
Joseph A. Sopko, MD
Pulmonology, Hyperbaric Medicine
Vice President of Medical Affairs
Chairman, Department of Medicine
Dr. Sopko has been a member of the Medical Staff at St. Vincent Charity Medical Center since 1979. He is Medical Director, Pulmonary Services; Director, Medical Intensive Care Unit; Director, Department of Medicine; and Chair, Division of Pulmonary Medicine. In addition, he shares his knowledge and expertise through the hospital’s medical residency program.
Among his many contributions, Dr. Sopko played an integral role in establishing the hospital’s Regional Center for Blood Conservation – one of the first hospital-wide blood conservation programs in the country – and was one of the physician champions involved in obtaining licensure for respiratory therapists in the state of Ohio in 1988. He established the first hyperbaric oxygen chamber in Cuyahoga County to treat infection, radiation tissue damage, and emergencies such as diving accidents and carbon monoxide poisoning. St. Vincent maintains the only 24/7 emergency treatment for patients with carbon monoxide poisoning.
In the community, Dr. Sopko serves on the Board of Directors of the Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation (TUPCF) of Ohio, the Board of Trustees of the Sisters of Charity Health System, the Board of Medical Consultants for the Cleveland Police Department and the Respiratory Therapy Advisory Committee for Cuyahoga Community College. A proponent of boating safety, he also teaches classes and participates in public service campaigns as an active volunteer member of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
He received his medical degree from Tufts University, and completed his internship, residency and fellowship training at University of Iowa Hospitals.
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment fights infection and rebuilds the damaged tissue of patients
