MIAMI | The St. John Bosco Clinic and SSJ Health Foundation , as of October 1, 2021, came under the patronage of the Archdiocese of Miami, and Catholic Charities will be in charge of the administration of both entities.

The implementation of these changes will take place in the following weeks and Catholic Charities will begin managing the operations of the San Juan Bosco Clinic and SSJ Health Foundation as of January 1, 2022.

These changes will not affect the operation of the clinic or its patients. “The clinic continues with its same mission as 30 years ago; to see patients who do not have access to health insurance and low resources, "said Berta Cabrera, executive director of the clinic and the foundation, adding that the same administration, the same employees and the same board of directors will follow.

"We are very grateful to the Archdiocese and Catholic Charities that they have accepted that the clinic was under that organization, which is so well known and respected in the community," said Cabrera. “We believe that our patients will have more access to other services; just like the people who serve them in their programs will have easier access to the clinic, ”he added.

For his part, Peter Routsis-Arroyo, executive director of Catholic Charities, said: "We anticipate that our role will be more of guidance and supervision, since these two organizations have operated independently for almost 30 years."

The St. John Bosco Clinic has been under the patronage of the St. Joseph Sisters of St. Augustine since its founding in 1992. Shortly thereafter, the SSJ Health Foundation was established to raise funds for basic health care for children and adults in the county of Miami-Dade. The Clinic is also funded by the Florida State Department of Health, volunteer physicians, individuals, and philanthropic corporations.

The clinic provides primary health care to "people who do not have access, or who, in some cases, have not had access to medical care for many years," said Cabrera.

Some patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure are also treated in the clinic by volunteer specialist doctors. The clinic serves about 1,200 people a year.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the clinic implemented telemedicine or medical appointments through video calls. "It worked very well for most of the patients who used it," Cabrera said, adding that they are still using it with patients who don't always need to go to the clinic when they need to know the results of lab tests, or how they are doing. with a new medicine.

Apart from physical care, the clinic staff give "a care of hope that there is help for them, that there is a place where they can go," said Cabrera, noting that a large part of the patients are immigrants who have recently arrived in the country and from very low income.

Although the clinic serves a predominantly Hispanic population from Central, South America and the Caribbean, Cabrera noted that they serve people from all over the world, including native-born people from the United States.

When it was founded, it was located in St. John Bosco Parish in Little Havana, a predominantly Hispanic area. In 2008 he moved to the Corpus Christi church grounds , in the Allapattah area, an area also for Hispanics.

The work that the clinic has done for 30 years is "to be a light for many people who did not have access to medical care," said Cabrera. Much of his work focuses on educating about preventive medicine, medical care, and "we help in some cases with the payment of medicines if they are very expensive," added Cabrera, who announced his retirement in December.

"For 10 years they have given me that opportunity to do what I wanted to do since I started my career, which is to help the community, give people hope and an education on how to have access to the many services that exist," he said. Cabrera. "I am very grateful to the Sisters of St. Joseph, with whom I have worked for almost 40 years."

Cabrera also said that the clinic has seven employees and "if it is not for the volunteers, the clinic could not function." He added that free clinics can do the work they do thanks to the service of volunteers who give their time.