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Marie Tilor is a Patient Care Technician at Community Health of South Florida’s Doris Ison Health Center. Her job consists of measuring and documenting vital signs, listening to patients’ concerns, and reporting them to nurses. Tilor enjoys providing the best care and experience to her patients, ensuring that they leave their appointment with no unanswered questions or concerns. Tilor is from Haiti and moved to the United States in 2010. In her free time, she loves to spend time with her children.

Marie Tilor, PCT, at Doris Ison Health Center

Ronald McFarlane is the Food and Beverage Manager at Community Health of South Florida, Inc. (CHI). Employed at CHI since 2014, McFarlane started as a cook until he was promoted to manager in 2016. His duties include staff scheduling, menu planning, catering for CHI events, and food budgeting for the organization. He enjoys putting a smile on people’s faces and doing his part to please others. Born and raised in the island nation of Jamaica, he loves soccer and all things technology.

Ronald McFarlane at Doris Ison Health Center

42% of CHI patients are covered by Medicaid.

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If you are a Medicaid recipient, you may be at risk of losing insurance coverage and access to specialty care.

At the start of the pandemic, Congress set in place the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that required state Medicaid programs to keep individuals continually enrolled during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

As the public health emergency comes to an end, so did continuous re-enrollment on April 1, 2023.

This means that your family and children could lose vital insurance coverage if appropriate action is not taken.

Patients of Community Health of South Florida, Inc. (CHI) along with over 250,000 Medicaid recipients in Miami-Dade County will be directly affected by the end of the continuous enrollment.

Peter Wood, Vice President of Planning and Government Affairs, worries that this could be a health crisis for families of CHI and South Florida.

“Forty-two percent of people who seek care at CHI depend on Medicaid,” he said. “Families with income more than the state’s eligibility standard for Medicaid but less than the federal poverty line will lose their eligibility for Medicaid. Thousands of families and kids could experience gaps in coverage.”

Medicaid groups expected to be most at risk for eligibility interruptions

-Parents and caregivers who no longer have children under 18

-Youth that are turning 19 or 20

-Older adults with disabilities who are currently on Medicaid and are awaiting Medicare approval

-Former foster children that are turning 26

-Medically needy recipients

How to prepare for the end of Medicaid continuous enrollment

If you are a Medicaid recipient be sure to provide up-to-date personal information to the Department of Children and Families, the state agency that coordinates Medicaid benefits in Florida. This includes your mailing address as DCF will send out notices related to eligibility and further steps.

“Due to this change, it is critical to closely monitor any correspondence with DCF,” Wood said. “It is important for current Medicaid recipients to be prepared for any changes.”

If patients are no longer eligible to be re-enrolled, they should access alternative health insurance as quickly as possible to avoid large gaps in coverage.

CHI outreach staff will be on hand to aid patients in the re-enrollment process for free. To make an appointment with an enrollment specialist call (786)272-2100. CHI health centers will continue to offer services to the uninsured on an income-based payment scale.

CHI Board Member, Carolyn Taylor Pates, received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award at the CHI Volunteer Services Awards

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Big things are coming at Community Health of South Florida, Inc. (CHI). We just received the green light from permitting to begin construction on the Children’s Crisis Center, a project that will help heal and save our most fragile young people. We are also excited to soon offer our patients cardiology services.

We recently celebrated our employee awards and honored dozens of our high achievers for going above and beyond. We are so fortunate to have such a compassionate, highly skilled staff. They take our mission to heart every day and I am so grateful for them. You can see the list of awardees at chisouthfl.org/employee-awards along with photos from that day.

CHI is also fortunate to have great support from the community. We saw this as nearly 120 people came out to participate in our golf tournament. Their donations and engagement have helped us to push forward our Children’s Crisis Center project.

We have another exciting event coming up, our Women’s Health fair. This year it’s called “Put You First Women’s Wellness Fair.” It includes pampering such as massages and manicures, consults with our doctors and a section of the fair dedicated to providing resources for job assistance, housing, and more. It even includes Build-a-Bear workshop for kids! Join us May 11 here at the Doris Ison Health Center 10300 SW 216 St., Miami at 5:30pm.

Last, but certainly not least, we were so proud to host an awards ceremony recently for our volunteers. We celebrated the contributions of 16 volunteers. But the most remarkable was our long-time board member, Carolyn Taylor Pates. She received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 9,900 hours of service! Ms. Pates comes from a long and strong lineage of women who served as leaders in our community. Her late aunt, Doris Ison, founded CHI and advocated for healthcare at the local and national level to ensure everyone had access to high quality healthcare, regardless of race, insurance status or income level. Today Ms. Pates continues her advocacy and more.

Yours Truly,

Blake Hall

It’s a boy! As the clock struck midnight and cheers erupted in celebration of the new year, CHI’s Dr. Amine Khachani delivered Miami-Dade County’s first baby of 2023 at Jackson South Medical Center.

Ingrid Gonzalez Perez and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Nelson Diaz Gonzalez on January 1, 2023, at 12:01 a.m. Weighing in at 7 pounds and 2.6 ounces, baby Nelson is the couple’s third child. Perez expressed her gratitude to Dr. Khachani for the beautiful moment. “This was such a positive experience, and I am very happy.”

CHI is committed to offering comprehensive quality care to the community from birth through adulthood.

Ingrid Gonzalez Perez holds her newborn baby boy at Jackson South Medical Center after the baby was delivered by Dr. Amine Khachani

CHI establishes the “Angel Fund” for employees experiencing financial hardships.

Community Health of South Florida, Inc. (CHI) employee, Angela Robbins (named changed for confidentiality), did not know how she was going to keep her lights on this past holiday season after recently running into challenging times. 

“Life just caught up with me, I was so scared,” she said.

A holiday miracle came to Robbins when she was selected as one of the first recipients of the “CHI Angel Fund.” The new fund aims to provide financial relief to employees that may encounter unexpected crises. CHI established it to offer aid with the goal of supporting the overall financial well-being of its team members. 

Coming off the heels of a global pandemic and soaring inflation, many families are currently feeling the burden on their wallets. CHI cares for its employees and wanted to give back to the people who provide exceptional care to the community. The wellness of CHI staff is of top priority to President and CEO, Blake Hall. 

“We would not be able to care for the South Florida community in the way that we do at CHI, without our wonderful team,” said Hall. “We are here for them and want to support those in need.” 

Robbins, who is a single mom of three, recently purchased a home three years ago. She admits that maintaining the home and other financial responsibilities has been difficult. 

“I’ve had to cancel gym memberships and other things that were important to me. I was expecting my lights to be cut off at any time,” she said. 

So, it is no surprise how thankful and relieved she felt when she found out that she had been selected for the Angel Fund. 

“I’ve been working here for seven years. I have an amazing team and I’ve always been proud to say that I work at CHI,” Robbins said tearfully. “To finally have that recognition that we are not just employees, that we are much more, I feel very blessed and lucky.”  

Natalie Franco (named changed for confidentiality), the second recipient of the “CHI Angel Fund” felt gratitude that she was able to help pay her 77-year-old mother’s mortgage. 

“Joy. I felt not only joy but happiness,” said Franco. “It felt welcoming to know that CHI and this program were there to help me and my family at a tough time.” 

A year ago, Franco’s father sadly passed away leaving her mother in financial hardship and facing foreclosure. Having the ability to pay her mother’s mortgage brought her peace of mind. 

“It meant a great deal to me. My mom had been in that home for over 50 years. It means so much that we could save her home and she did not have to move away from her comfort zone,” said Franco.