Winner: 11 or More Employees: Dattoli Cancer Center

Virginia “Ginya” Carnahan looks forward to the day when the Dattoli Cancer Center’s services won’t be necessary. In fact, she said, with advancing technologies, a prostate-cancer vaccine could someday put the facility out of business.

“That would be a very happy day,” she said.

But, until that day comes, Carnahan, director of marketing and development, and other staff pride themselves on the details that make a difference. They’ve helped patients find housing when they come to the area for treatment and negotiated discounts for rental cars or hotels.

“The whole patient experience is specifically thought out,” she said.

Carnahan said her passion for the business stems from that of Drs. Michael Dattoli and Richard Sorace, who she and her fellow staff members joke live on “Planet Prostate.”

“They left the secure world of working within a hospital and stepped outside with great courage to open the center,” she said. “They believed strongly that it would be a success and they worked hard to make that come to fruition.”

Bottom line
Dattoli Cancer Center

Location: 2803 Fruitville Road, Sarasota

Start date: February 2001

Number of employees when started: 12

Number of employees today: 30

First job: Virginia “Ginya” Carnahan spent a summer when she was in high school in a warehouse going through medical charts, pulling out staples and paperclips so that the charts could be microfilmed.
Something you wish you knew when you started: “I have in such high regard for the work that medical professionals do in saving lives,” said Carnahan, Dattoli Cancer Center director of marketing and development. “I wish I could go back and go to medical school. But the next-best thing is to work in a medical practice where practicing medicine is an art.”

Typical day on the job: “There really is no typical day,” Carnahan said. “I handle so many different things, whether it’s speaking to media or editing manuscripts for a physician. But my favorite thing is having first contact with a patient who needs support — to help understand their fears and anxieties and put them at ease.”

Biggest challenge: “The biggest challenge for all medical practices is the escalating costs of care and the reductions that have been made in reimbursements. Something has got to happen to bring things back into balance.”

Business idol: “The two doctors here (Michael Dattoli and Richard Sorace) are truly unusual human beings. They are so acutely focused on their patients that the rest of the world is meaningless to them. We joke that they live on Planet Prostate.”

Where do you see the business in five years? “I certainly hope it’s right here. But there are new things being discovered and new technologies … Dr. Michael Dattoli believes that within his lifetime there will be a vaccine developed for prostate cancer, and that will put us out of business. That will be a very happy day.”

Favorite way to spend a day off: Floating in the pool