Dr Stanley Marks Retires After 42 Years with Memorial Healthcare System

Dr. Stanley Marks, Memorial Healthcare System’s chief medical officer, has retired after a 42-year affiliation with MHS. A general and vascular surgeon, Marks joined Memorial after completing his residency in 1978 and became the system’s CMO more than 22 years ago.

“Stan Marks has had a significant impact on the past, present, and what will be the future of healthcare in South Florida,” said Aurelio M. Fernandez, III, FACHE, Memorial Healthcare System president and CEO. “We’ll miss his leadership, knowledge, perspective, and commitment to delivering the highest quality patient and family-centered care.”

Dr. Marks clinical and research expertise shaped his vision as an executive, with some of his initiatives helping make Memorial one of the largest and most successful public healthcare systems in the U.S. He established the Office of Human Research to offer patients additional treatment options and provide doctors opportunities to further their knowledge and understanding of the conditions they treat.

His advocacy of graduate medical education transitioned Memorial from a community-based, healthcare provider into an academic medical center that currently trains doctors in 11 residency programs and two fellowships.

The New York City native was also the COVID-19 incident commander and guided the clinical steering committee that enabled Memorial to care for coronavirus patients while keeping its own staff healthy and supplied with what it needed during the crisis.

“It’s pretty unusual when your career gets punctuated at its end by a pandemic,” Marks said. “I will miss the challenges I’ve had at Memorial and, most of all, after everything we’ve been through, I’ll miss the people.”

Dr. Marks decision to prioritize research and GME benefitted South Floridians during the coronavirus response. Memorial was able to secure the Remdesivir and convalescent plasma it needed for patients through its research department and utilized residents to supplement medical teams working COVID units and administering testing for the community.

Tom Macaluso, MD, has been named Interim Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. He will also assume the role of incident commander for COVID-related issues, catastrophes, and hurricanes.