Administrative Profiles

Lincoln S. Mendez, Chief Executive Officer

Phone: 561.955.4200

Lincoln S. Mendez is the CEO of Boca Raton Regional Hospital. Mr. Mendez has been in this position since July 2019.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Mendez served as CEO of South Miami Hospital for over nine years. Before that, Mr. Mendez held the position of CEO at Doctors Hospital for a total of 14 years. Mr. Mendez is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Haroula Protopapadakis Norden, Chief Operating Officer

Phone: 561.955.4200

Haroula P. Norden is the Chief Operating Officer of Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Ms. Norden assumed the role in July of 2021. She comes to Boca Raton Regional Hospital from Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, where she worked for more than 15 years and most recently served as Associate Administrator. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and served as the 2020 President of the South Florida chapter’s board of directors

Samer Fahmy, Chief Medical Officer

Phone: 561.955.4200

Dr. Sam Fahmy is a board certified internal medicine physician. He has been in practice in south Florida since 2007 and has focused his career on medical education and electronic clinical systems. He is the associate clinical dean for academic affairs at Florida Atlantic University and the Chief Medical Officer at Boca Raton Regional Hospital. Dr. Fahmy is also board certified in Clinical Informatics, leading several south Florida hospitals in conversions to electronic health records while maintaining focus on improvement in quality of care.

MARK LARKIN, CFRE, President, Foundation

Phone: 561.955.4142

Mark Larkin serves as the President of Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Foundation. In his role, Mr. Larkin is responsible for leading the organization’s fundraising efforts, including major gift and donor cultivation, capital campaigns, special events and other philanthropic initiatives.

Mr. Larkin joined Boca Regional after serving for 18 years at CentraCare Health in St. Cloud, Minnesota. There, he spent 12 years as Vice President for Philanthropy and was responsible for growing CentraCare’s Foundation and enhancing its effectiveness and efficiency across the organization’s enterprise, establishing major gift protocols, expanding their donor base, growing the Foundation’s assets materially and completing two significant and successful capital campaigns.

MELISSA DURBIN, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer

A seasoned professional with nearly thirty years in nursing practice and leadership, Melissa Durbin serves as Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Boca Raton Regional Hospital which she assumed in 2013. In this capacity, she is responsible for all nursing and other patient-care functions and services within the organization. Ms. Durbin manages the assessment, planning, coordination, implementation and evaluation of nursing practices on a facility level. She is accountable for ensuring high quality, safe and appropriate nursing care, competency of clinical staff and effective resource management. She also serves as President of the Nursing Consortium of South Florida.

Brian Altschuler, Vice President of Ancillary Operations

Phone: 561.955.4200

Brian Altschuler serves as the Vice President of Ancillary Operations. In his role, Mr. Altschuler is responsible for overseeing the Hospital’s safety and security functions, facility operations, food and environmental services and acts as a liaison to the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League.

Maureen Mann, MS, MBA, FACHE, Assistant Vice President of Lynn Cancer Institute and Lynn Women's Health and Wellness Institute

Phone: 561.955.3772

Maureen G. Mann, MS, MBA, FACHE is the Assistant Vice President of the Lynn Cancer Institute and Lynn Women's Health and Wellness Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, where she is responsible for the strategic and daily operations of one of the largest cancer centers in Florida and a comprehensive women’s center that provides more than 100,000 patient visits and services annually.

Wendy Elliott MBA/HCM; M.A. CCC-SP, Assistant Vice President of the Marcus Neuroscience Institute

Phone: 561.955.5977

Wendy Elliott, MBA/HCM; M.A. CCC-SP is the Assistant Vice President of the Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Baptist Health South Florida.

Wendy has the oversite and overall responsibility for the 20 bed Neuro ICU/stepdown unit, Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, eight pre/post-operative beds and four operating rooms with both intraoperative MNI and CT capability, 20 bed med/tele unit, and the neurology, neurosurgical, spine and pain clinical practice with 15 physicians. She oversees the Comprehensive Stroke program as well as the Center of Excellence for Spinal Care. With plans to oversee the expansion of services into the Boynton Beach area. Wendy also oversees inpatient rehab and the Gloria Drummond Rehabilitation Center which includes cardiac and pulmonary rehab, wound care/hyperbaric treatment, aquatics, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language therapy.

Shelly Gonzales, MSN, RN, CENP, CCRN , Assistant Vice President of Nursing

Phone: 561.955.5054

Shelly Gonzales is the Assistant Vice President of Nursing at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, where she is responsible for operations of the inpatient nursing units, Perinatal Services, Nursing Administration and Education and Professional Development. She has been with the organization since 2013.

Jennifer Pacheco, MSN, RN, Assistant Vice President of Critical Care Services

Phone: 561.955.5054

Jennifer Pacheco is the Assistant Vice President of Critical Care Services. She has been in this position since February 2020.

Prior to her AVP role, Jennifer served as the Director of Critical Care at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, where she oversaw MICU, SICU, CVICU, CV step-down unit and Interventional Radiology. She has been at BRRH since 2009.

Pua Cooper MSN, RN, FHIMSS, CHCIO, Assistant vice president and chief informatics officer

Phone: 561.955.5426

Pua Cooper serves as the Assistant Vice President & Chief Clinical Informatics Officer for Boca Raton Regional Hospital where she is responsible for the oversight of the Clinical Informatics, Quality and Infection Prevention departments. She joined the organization in September 2004 first serving as the Director of Critical Care and Dialysis.

Marcella Gravalese, MBA-HSA, Vice President, Baptist Health Medical Group - North

Phone: 561.955.4200

Marcella Gravalese leads the physician group’s development and operations and recruit new members to join the primary care and specialty physician practices.

Marcella Gravalese has maintained a passion for mentoring and developing future leaders as well as serving and supporting the community. In 2017, she was one of six scholars selected for the prestigious Thomas C. Dolan Executive Diversity Program by the American College of Healthcare Executives. Most recently, she was recognized as a Dynamic Influencer by the International Association of Women. Ms. Gravalese earned a master’s degree in health services administration from Nova Southeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in health promotion and disease prevention from Michigan State University. She also completed the Leadership for Senior Executives program through Harvard Business School.