Dr. Yeily Hernandez Mato knows how it feels to be vulnerable. When she was just 18, she nearly died in a violent car accident. Doctors performed several surgeries to save her, including facial reconstruction. Four months later, she was released from the hospital, left to sleep and recover in her mother’s car as the two of them were homeless.
Her health was still a challenge and a lot of follow-up doctor’s visits were required. Without any money or insurance, Hernandez went to Community Health of South Florida, Inc. (CHI) where doctors kept her on the path to recovery and brought her back to good health.
Today, the former homeless woman steps back into the non-profit health center, but this time to receive her white coat in a special ceremony reserved for new medical residents. Dr. Yeily Hernandez Mato is one of seven new residents who will be recognized in the white coat ceremony at the Brodes H. Hartley, Jr. Teaching Health Center at CHI. The same place where more than a decade ago, doctors helped her heal.
“It’s an emotional moment for me to come back to CHI,” said Dr. Hernandez Mato. “The care team here showed me compassion and now I have the opportunity to show others the same compassion. I can relate to the homeless population more than most people because of the journey I took to get here. A lot of them are not what other people think they are. Just look at me.”
Dr. Hernandez is one of four family medicine and three psychiatry residents who will receive their white coats at noon in the boardroom at CHI. The new class of residents begin their training during one of the most difficult times to work in medicine, during a pandemic. But they usher in new hope amid a projected doctor shortage nationwide. That includes hope that community health centers like CHI can retain them to care for some of the most vulnerable populations: the uninsured, migrants, homeless and indigent.
“We knew we had to grow our own doctors,” said Blake Hall, CHI President. “It’s never been so hard to recruit doctors and nurses. By entrenching these young doctors in our system, our communities and our programs we have an opportunity to show them the tremendous impact that they will be making here.”
