President’s Message

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Summer is here and the children are out of school. Many of you are likely planning family vacations. Keep in mind the summer is the perfect time to schedule all of your appointments without having to juggle school schedules. At Community Health of South Florida, Inc. (CHI), we want to make quality healthcare convenient for your family. You can schedule your dental, pediatric, vision and other appointments all on the same day.

Brodes H. Hartley Jr. President and CEO at the Legacy Magazine Gala accepting his award for Legacy Legend of the Year.)

Some of you might have celebrated a graduation recently. Here at CHI, we are looking forward to graduating our third class of six residents in June and bringing on seven new residents just a couple weeks later with a white coat ceremony. Summer is a busy time for CHI. We recently acknowledged our nurses for their dynamic and compassionate contribution to care during Nurses Week. We thank them for being an integral part of our operations, ensuring that our patients, families and employees get the best care possible.

I am proud to tell you that CHI was recently awarded several honors including: Chamber South’s 1st Place Multi-Cultural Workforce Award, 2nd Place Corporate and Social Responsibility award and I was given the 2nd place Executive of the year award. In addition, I am grateful to Legacy Magazine as I was awarded the Legacy Legend of the Year award for one of the most powerful and influential black business leaders of 2019. It was an honor simply to be among so many insightful and innovative leaders at the awards gala. On top of this, CHI was named one of three Healthcare Hero Award finalists by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

I want to thank those who supported us by participating in CHI’s Glen Rice Celebrity Golf Tournament. We had 130 golfers participate on this fun day and the event helped raise $45,000 to help build our Children’s Crisis Center for kids who need inpatient, 24-hour intensive mental health treatment. You can still be part of the solution for our kids. Just log onto our website to donate at https://chisouth.wpengine.com/annual-giving/ or call (305) 252-4853.

We are constantly looking at how we can improve to serve you better. Recently, we expanded our parking lot at our Naranja Health Center to accommodate more people and we added new solar lights. We are almost done with our expansion project for our Marathon Health Center and hope to open the doors to our new state of the art facility this summer. More to come on the grand opening.

Yours Truly,

Brodes H. Hartley, Jr.
President/CEO

CHI Future Depends upon Community Support

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Saving and improving lives is Community Health of South Florida’s (CHI) top priority. The organization was founded to ensure that everyone has access to high-quality healthcare. That mission should also be a top concern for Congressional leaders. Community Health Centers throughout the nation are calling on Congress to take action and pass the funding bill, which will allow CHI to continue serving low- to moderate-income communities.

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If Congress doesn’t act by September 30th, CHI and thousands of other community health centers across the nation would be forced to scale back their services. The impact would hurt many patients who rely on CHI for their comprehensive care including: primary care, pediatrics, behavioral health, dental, vision, OB/GYN, urgent care, radiology, laboratory, pharmacy and more.

Nationwide, more than 28 million people depend on one of 1,400 Community Health Centers for health care. Closer to home, CHI served the needs of more than 82,000 patients in Monroe and Miami-Dade Counties last year.

CHI relies on federal funds to maintain its facilities, purchase supplies and pay its staff. That’s why it is critical that the community’s voice is heard throughout the Congressional halls of Washington, D.C. and beyond.

“We are asking for your help to make your voice heard. Reach out to your member of Congress and ask that your elected leaders support Community Health Centers by extending funding,” said Brodes H. Hartley, Jr., President and CEO of CHI. “Community Health Centers are a cornerstone of the nation’s health care system. We must have continued funding to respond to the community’s increasing health care needs.”

CHI has treated countless families, children, adolescents and elderly since its inception in 1971. The organization is committed to expanding access to care for all and to never turn any patient away regardless of their ability to pay.

“If the bills did not get passed, there would be a substantial impact to CHI,” said Peter Wood, CHI’s Director of Planning and Development. “Forty percent of our overall operating budget is made up of grants including federal, state and local government.”

CHI is committed to serving the needs of the community. That’s why it opened a Teaching Health Center in 2013 to address a physician shortage nationwide. This program remains successful with graduates from numerous disciplines including primary care, psychiatry and OB/GYN. Some have remained with CHI to work as physicians in community healthcare.

Beyond this, CHI provides hundreds of jobs, many of which are highly skilled. It’s economic impact to South Florida exceeds $140 million.

“There’s a great need for stable employment and decent paying jobs, especially in the Southern region of Miami-Dade County,” Wood said.

CHI encourages everyone to reach out to their member of Congress and express their support for Community Health Centers.

New Benefits Program Provides Families With Life-Saving Resources CHI Teams Up With The Children’s Trust To Help Families Access Benefits

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As a working mother of two school-age children, Yozuhara Delgadillo found herself struggling to put food on the table. In spite of her back pain, Delgadillo managed to find work as a housekeeper, while her husband worked as a gardener.

 

“The job wasn’t steady,” Delgadillo said. “We could not rely on a steady income.” The Delgadillo family faced the same problem every month struggling to pay rent and keeping up with other household costs. Their lives were filled with anxiety and fear over their finances.

Then, her kid’s school referred her to Community Health of South Florida, Inc. (CHI) for help. Delgadillo learned that she was eligible for more than just food stamps. Thanks to CHI’s Benefits Enrollment Program, which helps anyone caring for children access a wide range of benefits, Delgadillo could soon breathe a sigh of relief.

Now, Delgadillo’s children have access to food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and her two sons, who are 11 and 8, have health care coverage through Florida’s Health Insurance Program KidCare.

Eunice Hines, Director of Migrant Health Services & Outreach at CHI, said anyone can apply for benefits regardless of their immigration status.

“It’s all about the community and linking them to needed services,” she said. “We offer 18 benefits, but even if the services they need are not on the list, we can help them out through other means, either by linking them to churches or other agencies.”

Through this program, CHI and The Children’s Trust have teamed up to close care gaps and reduce barriers for families. The team helps enroll families in a host of programs including cash assistance, school lunch, Medicaid, social security, housing energy assistance, childcare assistance and much more.

“I really do not know what we would have done without this help,” Delgadillo said. “They made it so easy and there were no judgments.”

If you or your family need this assistance, you can call (305) 252-4871.

 

 

CHI Pap Test Interview with Dr. Linda Zambra By Stephanie Almeida

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Title: Doctor/MD

Languages: English, Spanish

Location: Naranja Health Center/Naranja

Dr. Linda Zambra from CHI sat with us to give us a little insight on Pap Tests and the benefits behind them. Dr. Linda Zambra has been a provider at CHI’s Naranja Health Center since 2003 and received her medical degree in 1988 from the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua. After graduating from her residency in the United States back in 2003, she became part of the medical team at Community Health of South Florida Inc.

Since then, Dr. Zambrana has been working joyfully providing what she enjoys most, helping patients from different cultures be healthy and giving them all the medical and emotional support they need. Here’s what she has to share with us:

Q: Hi Dr. Zambra. Thank you for sitting down with us. So tell us, first off, what is a Pap test?

A: A Pap Test is a test for women, typically done to prevent cervical cancer.

Q: How does a Pap Test work?

A: A patient visits her doctor and her doctor will do the Pap Test through the inside of the vagina where he or she will be collecting a sample of cells from her cervix. The doctor will then send the sample to a lab when the staff will check for abnormal cells.

Q: Why does a woman need a Pap Test?

A: A Pap Test should be done in order to catch any changes in the cells that may lead to cervical cancer. Pap Tests save lives. When done at an appropriate time in a woman’s life, doctors can catch those changes in cells early on and take the next steps to prevent cervical cancer or human papillomavirus. This, of course, is beneficial to a woman’s health but is also especially important to women who have children.

Q: When does a woman need to go get a Pap Test and how often should she get one?

A: Women should be getting Pap Tests between the ages of 21-65 and they should be going in to get one once a year to every three years.

Q: How does a woman know if her Pap Test is not normal? What should she do?

A: The test results will be able to show if the cervix has any abnormal cells or diseases. It does not mean a woman has cervical cancer. When the results come in and there are changes in the cells the patient’s doctor will be able to guide her forward with the next steps.

Q: How much is a Pap Test and where can I get one?

A: At our CHI pap health center, Pap Tests are around $30-$50. We work with our patients to make sure they get the tests and care they need and we work with most insurance providers. We have many locations in South Florida with health centers and programs like Project Screen for women between the ages of 50-64. We have midwives and incredible practitioners that are always willing to help.

Q: That’s great! Anything else you would like to share with women reading this about Pap Tests?

A: Sure! I would say don’t be afraid. Most women believe Pap Tests will be incredibly painful and they’re not. CHI is a health center that is here for everyone and is a place where all can feel welcome.

Thank you Doctor. For more information on CHI and all their services check out www.chisouthfl.org.