Robert A. Behar, MD, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Robert A. Behar is the founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of North Cypress Medical Center. A true visionary, Dr. Behar wanted to develop a hospital with state-of-the-art equipment and amenities that truly put its patients and physicians first. In this capacity he oversaw the development of the hospital and the professional buildings. He also chairs the Central Committee for Operational Review and through this coordinates all operations at North Cypress Medical Center.
A native of Chicago, Dr. Behar graduated with honors from the University of Chicago and received his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. He went on to complete his internship at Northwestern University and his residency in Radiation Oncology at Stanford University, where he was also Chief Resident and the American Cancer Society Fellow in Clinical Research Oncology. Dr. Behar went into private practice in Florida, where he served on the faculty of the University of Miami Medical School. He relocated to Houston where he formed Western Radiation Oncology Associates, a practice that has been successful in starting five Cancer Centers including the North Cypress Cancer Center. North Cypress Cancer Center is the first and only Cancer Center in the area to perform both High Dose Rate Brachytherapy and Stereotactic Cranial and Body Radiosurgery. Dr. Behar is one of a select group of physicians who have been trained in Body Radiosurgery at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
Fluent in both English and Spanish, Dr. Behar is an international lecturer and a published author.He has published studies in such Peer Review Journals as Cancer, Surgery and the International Journal of Radiation Oncology on his specialty interests, which include Head and Neck Cancer, Lymphoma, Thyroid Cancer, Prostate Cancer and Brain Tumors.
Despite his many administrative duties, Dr. Behar still sees patients daily.
Jimmy W.C. Lee, MD, Vice-Chairman of the Board and Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Jimmy Lee has been a leader in the Houston medical community for more than twenty-five years. He entered practice as a Board-Certified Otolaryngologist-Head and Neck Surgeon in the Cy-Fair area in 1983 and then went on to form Texas Ear, Nose & Throat Specialists in 1997. As President and founding partner of this group, Dr. Lee led Texas E.N.T. Specialists to become one of the largest and most progressive otolaryngology groups in the United States. Dr. Lee has been instrumental in implementing best business practices in medicine within the group and now brings this expertise and insight to the leadership at North Cypress Medical Center.
Dr. Lee has also been a key member of the visionary team that brought North Cypress Medical Center to the Houston community. He serves as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors and has been involved in each step of the hospital's development and implementation. He is also the Chief Operating Officer of the hospital, where he is able to combine his skills in medicine and management to deliver exceptional patient care.
Dr. Lee received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston. He went on to receive his medical degree from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio and then completed his residency in Otolaryngology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Dallas, Southwestern Medical School. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and a member of the Texas Academy of Otolaryngology, the Houston Society of Otolaryngology, and the Harris County Medical Society. Dr Lee has served as Chief of Surgery at area hospitals and has served on numerous national advisory committees and boards for technologies in medicine.
Robert Martel, Chief Financial Officer
Bob Martel relocated to the Houston area in April of 2008 to assume the position of Chief Financial Officer for North Cypress Medical Center. Martel grew up in El Paso, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from the University of Texas at El Paso. He went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from Texas A & M University at Corpus Christi. Martel previously served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive for Lockhart Hospital in Lockhart, Texas and then went to San Antonio where he was Chief Financial Officer of Southwest General Hospital. Martel then took the position of Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer for Memorial Medical Center which is associated with the Nueces County Hospital District in Corpus Christi. More recently, he served as Associate Administrator of Finance for the Spohn Health System and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi. Prior to coming to North Cypress, Martel was Chief Executive Officer and Administrator for The Thomas-Spann Clinic, located in Corpus Christi.
Walter A. Pannone, PhD, RN, NEA, BC, Chief Nursing Officer / Vice President, Inpatient Services
Dr. Pannone comes to Houston from the Tampa Florida Area. He is a native of Rhode Island and spent most of his early career in that state. Walt was an Army Nurse Corp Officer and had the military occupational specialty of Operating Room Nurse. After his Army career, Walt returned to civilian life and worked in Providence Rhode Island in the Emergency Department of St. Joseph Hospital for many years as Staff Nurse, Charge Nurse, and Head Nurse. Walt later became Nurse Manager of a Respiratory and Cardiovascular Unit developing expertise in the care of ventilated patients. Later, after obtaining his BSN and MSN degrees he went on to serve as a Director of Nursing for Special and Critical Care at Newport Hospital and later as a Director Of Nursing Business and Information Systems at Roger Williams Medical Center. During his nursing career, he also worked in Private Emergency Rooms, taught as an instructor in a community college and at New England Technical University. Walt obtained his PhD in Health Administration and has worked as a private Nursing Consultant. He has served as the Chief Nursing Officer in private, for profit, not for profit hospitals, academic medical centers and hospitals large and small in Rhode Island, Florida, Alabama and Colorado. Walt’s passions are working with nurses to elevate the practice of nursing and striving for perpetual professionalism and patient satisfaction.
Elizabeth A. Dunphy, BSN, RN, MHA, Vice-President of Outpatient Affairs
Elizabeth Dunphy moved to Cypress, Texas, in December 2010 after accepting the position of Vice-President of Outpatient Affairs at North Cypress Medical Center. Along with her wealth of knowledge, Ms. Dunphy shares with North Cypress her seasoned expertise in ambulatory practice management, inpatient nursing, hospital ancillary services management, as well as peri-operative and procedural services.
Ms. Dunphy began her career at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, as a staff nurse after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and a Master of Health Administration degree from the University of Washington. During her time at Virginia Mason, Ms. Dunphy assumed the positions of Nurse Coordinator, Project Coordinator, Nursing Supervisor and Nurse Manager for the Pulmonary Medicine Thoracic Surgery Department. She was then promoted to Director of Pulmonary Services and later took over the position of Administrative Director for the Ambulatory Specialty Care Clinics at Virginia Mason Medical Center. Prior to joining the Executive Team at North Cypress Medical Center Ms. Dunphy served Virginia Mason as the Administrative Director for Procedural Care Services.
