[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 183 (Tuesday, October 19, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1110]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING COMMUNITY HEALTH OF SOUTH FLORIDA, INCORPORATED

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                         HON. CARLOS A. GIMENEZ

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 19, 2021

  Mr. GIMENEZ. Madam Speaker, founded in the late 1960s, Community 
Health of South Florida, Incorporated was established in order to 
answer the call of service for members of the community. Many minority 
residents of Miami-Dade County lacked access to health care due to the 
existing segregation of medical care in the South. Other migrant 
farmworkers were uninsured, preventing them from obtaining preventative 
or ambulatory care. Doris Ison recognized the need to provide care for 
all, regardless of race or economic status, having been a farmworker 
herself who immigrated from the Bahamas. Inspired by the American 
dream, Mrs. Ison was a catalyst for action and inspired local leaders, 
organizations, and members from her church to establish Community 
Health of South Dade, Incorporated in April of 1971.
  Beginning as two trailers off U.S. Highway 1, today, the mission has 
expanded to 11 health centers. Additionally, 35 school-based centers 
were established in order to serve the needs of Miami-Dade and Monroe 
County's underprivileged children. Community Health of South Florida, 
Incorporated offers services ranging from Primary Care, Urgent Care, 
Pediatrics, Behavioral Health, Radiology, Dental, Vision, and many 
others. Community Health of South Florida, Incorporated again answered 
the call for service during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing testing 
and telehealth medical services. True to Mrs. Ison's vision, CHI 
provides care for the uninsured and low income in Miami-Dade County, as 
well as the insured.
  In 2016, Community Health of South Florida, Incorporated received the 
Governor's Sterling Award. They are designated as the second federally 
qualified health center in the nation to be a behavioral health medical 
home, are certified as a patient centered medical home by the National 
Committee for Quality Assurance, and are accredited by the Joint 
Commission. To carry on the legacy of Mrs. Ison, the Brodes H. Hartley, 
Jr. Teaching Health Center helps to train the next generation of 
medical professionals.
  It is an honor to join the South Florida community in celebrating 
their 50th anniversary. As Community Health of South Florida, 
Incorporated celebrates this milestone, I am grateful for all this 
organization has done to serve the needs of South Florida.

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