1. GOLD MEDAL AWARDS
WEEK OF THURSDAY, MAY 7, 201516 MIAMI TODAY
WestKendallBaptistHospital’sinitiativeonhealthhonored
WestKendallBaptistCEOJavierHernandez-LichtlandfounderofHealthyWestKendallMichelleMejia.
Karelia Carbonell cited
invisionandleadership
KareliaCarbonellwasanactiveJuniorLeaguememberwhenshewasinvitedtojoinitsfoundationin2006.
MariaAbreu,BrazilConsulGeneralHelioRamos,MilmaRamos,MonacoViceConsulGeneralTomasAbreu.
Association of Fundraising
Professionals Miami
&
Historic Preservation
Association of Coral Gables
congratulate
Board Member and
Community Leader
Dr. Karelia Martinez Carbonell
on her award
Photo by Marlene Quaroni
Photo by Maxine Usdan
Photo by Sergio Alsina
BY MARILYN BOWDEN
The Florida Department of
Health’s 2014 Healthy Weight
Community Champion Award
went to Healthy West Kendall, a
community-wide initiative at
West Kendall Baptist Hospital
dedicated to improving the
health of the 300,000 residents
in its service area.
This designation has earned
Healthy West Kendall Miami
Today’s 2015 Bronze Award
for Organizations.
When West Kendall Baptist
Hospital opened in 2011, a com-
munity health needs assessment
mandated by health-care reform
identified five focus areas: ac-
cess to care, availability of pri-
maryandpreventivecare,chronic
diseasemanagement,attentionto
heart and vascular disease, and
promoting healthy lifestyles
through exercise and nutrition,
says Assistant Vice President
Michelle Mejia, who was ap-
pointed to spearhead the project
byCEOJavierHernandez-Lichtl.
“We were already addressing
access to care by opening this
hospital and seeing more than
200 patients in our Emergency
Room every day,” Ms. Mejia
says. “For the rest, we realized
we would need the whole com-
munity to pull together. It was
Javier’svisiontobringthisabout
using a coalition model.”
“After we had done the as-
sessment,” says Mr. Hernandez-
Lichtl, who co-chairs the
Healthy West Kendall Coalition
with Commissioner Juan
Zapata, “I shared it with our
board. They fully endorsed
moving forward with a popula-
tion-based model.”
ThekeywordsinHealthyWest
Kendall’s approach, he says,
are connect, inspire and change.
Using these words as guiding
principles, the coalition looks to
build community as well as to
promote health, embracing am-
bitiousgoalsthatincludeupgraded
infrastructure, improved trans-
portation alternatives and busi-
nessdevelopmentalongsidehealth
and recreational objectives.
To date, Ms. Mejia says, more
than 50 community business
partners are on board. One ex-
ample is the Healthy Zoo,
Healthy You campaign at Zoo
Miami, which highlights exer-
cise, healthy food choices and
hand washing. The hospital also
partners with the zoo in an an-
nual 5K run.
“We have become a national
model,” says Mr. Hernandez-
Lichtl, “of a hospital connect-
ing with business, government
and community.”
A Healthy Hub in the lobby of
WestKendallBaptistprovidesfree
one-stop screenings where any-
one can drop in and check body
massindex,bloodpressure,blood
sugar and cholesterol. An on-site
nurse refers patients in need of
lifestylemodificationtoprimary-
care physicians.
“We see people from the com-
munity coming in for weekly
check-ups – owning their
health,” Mr. Hernandez-Lichtl
says.
Healthy Hub, Ms. Mejia says,
is “exceeding our projections.
We have hubbed more than
1,800 people since we launched
last November, and local busi-
nesses are now asking us to
replicate it in their offices.”
West Kendall Baptist is par-
ticipating in Baptist Hospital
South Florida’s Miami Heart
Study, a five-year longitudinal
study that Mr. Hernandez-Lichtl
says is destined to become a
landmark in public health.
“I have a feeling,” he says,
“that it will reshape what we
know about the effect of a
healthylifestyleonhearthealth.”
BY MARILYN BOWDEN
The Junior League of Miami
Foundation bestowed its inau-
gural Visionary Award, which
recognizes contributions of vi-
sion and leadership, on former
president Karelia Carbonell – a
distinction that has now earned
her Miami Today’s 2015 Bronze
Medal for Individuals.
Ms. Carbonell says she was
alreadyanactivememberofJun-
ior League of Miami when she
was invited to join the founda-
tion in 2006, just two years after
it was established. She served as
board president from 2010-’12.
It was a good fit for Ms.
Carbonell, who holds a doctor-
ateinpublicadministration,with
a concentration in not-for-profit
management, from Nova South-
eastern University.
“I professionalized the foun-
dation,” she says. “It had by-
laws and guidelines, of course,
but I clarified them.”
For example, although the
foundation was built on an en-
dowment, she says, it exists to
help secure funding for the Jun-
ior League of Miami.
“One of its missions is to
present money to the Junior
Leagueannually,”Ms.Carbonell
says, “but that had not been done.
We needed to organize the intent
of the donors. I felt as president
that it was my duty to ensure that
the fiduciary obligation of the
foundationisfulfilled.Therewere
several funds and projects, and I
wanted to make sure they were
supported in perpetuity.
“Wecreatedaseparatewebsite
for the foundation, developed a
really clear message, created a
brandandfreshenedupourlogo.”
The Junior League of Miami
wasn’tMs.Carbonell’sfirstven-
ture into volunteer work, she
says. It began many years ago
when she began helping out at
her son’s elementary school, St.
Philip’s Episcopal – and found
volunteerism so rewarding that
she looked for other opportuni-
ties in the community.
But she credits her experi-
ences as president of the Junior
League of Miami Foundation
with inspiring her career as an
independent consultant to
nonprofits.
“Because of my experiences
as a volunteer,” she says, “I can
specialize in helping smaller
nonprofits take a look at what
their needs are and getting them
to a place where they can accom-
plish their goals. There are so
many nonprofits, which is won-
derful for the community, but it
makes it tough for each one to
stay viable. Fundraising is key.”
Ms. Carbonell continues to
serve the community as a volun-
teer as well. She had been a
board member of the Coral
Gables Community Foundation,
anorganizationshestillsupports.
She’s currently in her second
year as board chair of the His-
toric Preservation Association
of Coral Gables.
“I was recruited as a volun-
teer,” she says. “The organiza-
tion needed to become vibrant
again. The first thing I noticed
was that we needed to change it
to a 501c3 so we could offer tax
benefits to donors. That raised
donations. Now I’m focusing
on the city’s landmarks.”