Of the Department of Radiation Oncology

(West Islip, NY) Johnny Kao, MD, has been appointed interim chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center.  He brings extensive expertise in intensity modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery and brachytherapy to treat cancer patients more effectively with fewer complications than in the past.

After graduating from Dartmouth College with honors, he earned his medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine.  Following a residency at University of Chicago in radiation oncology, he served as Assistant Professor and William Harris Research Fellow at Mount Sinai School of Medicine from 2005 to 2010 and was most recently an associate at Florida Radiation Oncology Group in Tampa.

Kao led several pioneering clinical trials combining high precision radiation therapy with novel chemotherapy regimens that successfully treated patients with advanced, recurrent or metastastic cancers.  He has published more than 60 journal articles and textbook chapters on breast, prostate, head and neck, lung and gynecologic cancers.  Kao has a significant record of research funding from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense and industry.

He is a member of the American Society for Radiation Oncology and is past president of the New York Roentgen Society, Section of Radiation Oncology.  Kao lives with his wife and two children in Jericho.

Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center is a 537-bed (including 100 nursing home beds), voluntary, not-for-profit hospital located in West Islip.  The medical center, which has more than 4,500 employees and almost 900 physicians on staff, had nearly 30,000 patient admissions and more than 95,000 emergency department visits in 2011.  Good Samaritan is a member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island. Visit the website at www.good-samaritan-hospital.org.

Good Samaritan provided more than $43 million in community service and charity care in 2011.  The medical center supplies residents with the tools necessary to maintain good health.  This includes community lectures, screenings, health fairs and other community programs and services.