By Robert C. Jones Jr.
UM News

From left, student ambassadors Giulissa Honoré, Julia Veloso, and Karina Abadia of Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Senior High School imagine their future as physicians.

“Everybody thought he was nuts,” Don Bailey Jr., who was a freshman center for the Miami Hurricanes during the early 1980s, recalled about the talk then-coach Howard Schnellenberger gave to his players. “But that was his goal. He talked about it everyday, and he got everyone else to believe in it.”

Turns out, Schnellenberger was right on the money. Miami would defeat Nebraska 31-30 in the 1984 Orange Bowl Classic to win its first national title—a championship Bailey says “was truly a miracle,” but attainable because one man set a goal and stuck to it.

Goals, Bailey told a group of about 50 high school students from Miami-Dade and Broward counties on Friday, are certainly the first step toward success, but “you need to work towards them every single day.” His advice, while certainly nothing novel, was still good medicine and among the many words of wisdom the students would receive on this day.

With their summer break from high school classes now well underway, they had gathered at UM’s Newman Alumni Center on the Coral Gables campus for the UHealth Sports Performance and Wellness Institute’s 6th annual Student Ambassador Seminar, a half-day event that uses the personal experiences and life stories of influential community leaders to motivate and inspire youngsters.

“We’re living in a community where you guys face problems that we didn’t have to face,” said Lee Kaplan, M.D., chief of UHealth Sports Medicine, who, along with UM head athletic trainer Vinny Scavo, started the seminar six years ago after two high school students who they had treated as patients got into trouble.

Many of the students at Friday’s seminar were interested in becoming sports medicine physicians. Others were athletes. But what they all shared was a desire, and willingness, to learn what it takes to succeed. There was no shortage of role models to point them in the right direction—starting with Bailey, the longtime Hurricanes football radio analyst for 560 WQAM who stressed the importance of making a good first impression through a bright smile and firm handshake.

“Everybody in here has a million dollars—a million-dollar smile,” he said. “That first impression may change your life.”

Bailey told the students the story of a young man who, one evening, walked into his flooring business looking for a job. Bailey couldn’t offer him one at the time, but when he saw the young man on the street five days later, he hired him. Then, after learning that the young man had no parents, a failing report card, and lived in a house where six mattresses were strewn across the floor, Bailey placed himself “in charge” of the youngster’s life, helping him to graduate from high school and earn a degree from Florida Atlantic University.

The students also heard from Dave Strong, an emergency medicine physician at Boca Raton Regional Hospital and a team doctor for FAU, who recalled how he cried as a 3-year-old when he learned that his mother and father were divorcing. Even at such a tender age, said Strong, he decided to lead, making it his mission to move his mother out of an Ohio inner city.

Strong also recalled the obstacles he faced as a student himself, such as being placed on academic probation and failing a biochemistry class during his first year of medical school. “But I bounced back,” he said. “You’re going to face failure. It humbles you. It teaches you. Look in the mirror and say, ‘Not only am I going to get up, but I’m going to fight stronger.”’

Among the other speakers at the seminar were UM alumna Dany Garcia, founder and president of the Garcia Companies; Ivette Guttmann, a physician with UHealth Sports Medicine; attorney and entrepreneur Matthew Krieger; sports agent Drew Rosenhaus and his client, Clive Walford, a former Hurricanes football player drafted by the NFL Oakland Raiders; David Wyman, associate athletic director and assistant dean of undergraduate education for UM Athletics; and Ross Wodicka, an orthopaedic surgery resident at UM/Jackson.

Briana Killian, a 16-year-old junior at MAST Academy on Key Biscayne who wants to become a physician, said the seminar furnished her with exactly what she needed to know: “That I should never give up,” she said.

Everyone in the UM community and beyond is invited to Bike the Underline on Saturday, March 21, when three MetroRail stations will be abuzz with activity—including free UHealth health screenings, performances by Frost School of Music students, free yoga and Zumba classes, guided bike tours, art exhibits, food, refreshments, and much more—all aimed at attracting and engaging cyclists along the 10-mile paved path under the Metrorail line.

Taking place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Brickell, University, and South Miami MetroRail stations, the inaugural Bike the Underline celebration is part of Miami-Dade County’s Bike305 initiative, which began in 2013 with the designation of every March as Bike305 month. New this year, Bike the Underline will introduce residents to the dreams and plans to transform the underutilized stretch of pavement under the Metrorail into one of South Florida’s most iconic transportation corridors and linear parks.

To promote that vision and encourage residents to leave their cars and get on their bikes for exercise, transportation, and recreation, the following activities will take place at the following stations:

Brickell Station:

– Performances by the UM Frost School of Music’s Frost Horn Quartet, Classical Flute Duet, BLT Woodwind Trio, and Giroux/Udall Jazz Duo from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; art exhibit by seniors

– Free yoga classes

– Food

– Water station

University Station:

– Free health risk screenings, including BMI (Body Mass Index), blood pressure, cholesterol, VO2Max and more, courtesy of the UHealthAware Team and the UM Patti and Allan Herbert Wellness Center

– Bike rodeo for kids to teach safe-cycling skills

– Free helmets for children

– Free water bottles, gags, and other giveaways

– Guided bike tour to the Coral Gables Museum for the ArtCycle/Underline exhibit

– Water station

South Miami Station:

– Free yoga and Zumba classes

– Free bike checks courtesy of Mack Cycle & Fitness

– Giveaways by Footworks

– Food trucks

– Bake sale with donations to South Miami Neighborhood Association

– Entertainment by John Martin’s entertainer Paddy Kelligan

– Free health checks courtesy of South Miami Hospital

– Guided bike tour of the Ludlam Trail

In addition to the three activated stations, there will be plenty of activity at the spit of land adjacent to U.S. 1 and Kendall Drive, where Project Dadeland will welcome Bike the Underline participants to plant and mulch the area and, over time, watch their labors blossom into a future park. All materials will be provided by Project Dadeland.

For more information, visit Bike305.

The Lennar Foundation Medical Center will deliver breakthrough health care to South Florida starting in 2016.

UM News

When it opens in 2016, the Lennar Foundation Medical Center will deliver premier services of the Miller School of Medicine and the University of Miami Health System.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (October 23, 2014) — The Lennar Foundation, the charitable arm of The Lennar Corporation, one of the nation’s largest builders of quality homes, has given a lead gift of $50 million to name the UHealth at Coral Gables ambulatory center. A ceremonial groundbreaking event for The Lennar Foundation Medical Center took place Thursday afternoon.

To be located on the University of Miami Coral Gables campus, this 200,000-square-foot outpatient center will provide easy access to UHealth’s leading physicians for surrounding communities as well as UM students, faculty, and staff. It is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2016. Read the full story

UM News

Click on map to enlarge.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (June 30, 2014) —Road construction is set to begin this week for UHealth at Coral Gables, the ambulatory care center that will bring UHealth, University of Miami Health System’s leading physicians and specialty services to the Gables campus, specifically at the corner of Ponce de Leon Boulevard and a repositioned Dickinson Drive.

To make way for the new medical center, the southern end of Dickinson Drive will be moved 100 feet to the north, into the western portion of the Serpentine parking lot in front of the BankUnited Center. The western portion of that lot is now closed. The western portion of Walsh Avenue that runs in front of the BankUnited Center also will close from Dauer Drive to Dickinson Drive, but just temporarily. Yet, other than a green fence around the construction zone and a new pedestrian walkway, which will be delineated by barricades, motorists on Dickinson Drive and visitors to the BankUnited Center will not notice any difference, or inconvenience.

Dickinson Drive will never close and the one-way segment of Dickinson that ran in front of the School of Architecture already has been converted to a two-way street, providing motorists a convenient east-west corridor across campus.

While some yellow zone parking spaces in the Serpentine lot have been eliminated, there are sufficient yellow zone parking spaces available in the area on a daily basis to accommodate everyone who holds a permit.

Construction on Dickinson Drive is expected to be completed this fall, while construction on the new UHealth at Coral Gables facility is scheduled for completion in 2016. Designed by architects Perkins+Will, the 200,000-square-foot center will be just a short walk from the University Metrorail station, providing students, faculty, staff, and residents of surrounding communities easy access to UHealth’s leading physicians.

For more information on UHealth at Coral Gables, visit www.uhealthsystem.com/locations/coralgables.

Philip Profeta

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (May 15, 2014) — In an effort to improve efficiencies and reduce costs in the procurement process, the University of Miami is consolidating all purchasing and delivery functions under a single umbrella organization and has brought on board a seasoned expert to lead and manage the new system.

Philip Profeta, whose experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, accounts payable, hospital supply chain planning, logistics, and warehousing spans more than three decades, is the University’s new associate vice president and chief supply chain officer. Based on the medical campus, he is responsible for consolidating and leading the University’s entire procurement structure, including accounts payable, across the institution and multiple supply chains across the health care/hospital system.

“Phil Profeta is extremely qualified and capable to reorganize and lead our purchasing and delivery systems to better meet customer needs and negotiate better pricing with suppliers,” said John Shipley, UM’s vice president of finance and treasurer. “He is used to running huge supply chain operations at academic medical centers, so he really understands the needs of academic medical centers and research universities like ours. He is charged with putting all our purchasing operations together in a way that makes sense, delivers great customer service and produces cost savings.”

Profeta, who comes to UM from the Baylor-Scott & White Health Services in Temple, Texas, said he looks forward to transforming UM’s more traditional supply chain operations into a flexible and strategic asset.

“In today’s health care and academic marketplace, the supply chain has a pivotal role as a strategic resource,” Profeta said. “It’s about more than pushing paper and delivering boxes. It’s about more than delivering stellar service and savings. It’s about positioning the University in the marketplace. The supply chain needs to be flexible enough to keep up with all the growth and changes that are around us.”

As vice president of supply chains operations at Baylor-Scott & White, Profeta integrated all supply chain functions when the Scott & White Health System merged with the Baylor Health Care system, creating a vast, new organization with 43 acute care hospitals, 500 care sites, two 100,000-square-foot warehouses and 42,000 square miles of coverage area.

Prior to that, he was the corporate director of purchasing for the University of Rochester/Strong Health System, where he was responsible for all purchasing policy, contract development, and strategic purchasing initiatives.

He also has held positions at Neoforma/Revelocity, Inc. in California; the Yale New Haven Health System;Novation, Inc.; and the Rochester Regional Hospital Association. He worked as independent consultant as well.

A graduate of St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, Profeta studied business at the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology, and completed the Managed Care Executive Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School.