Camillus Health Concern is a Catholic, non-profit organization that provides comprehensive health…read morecare, including behavioral health and social services to the underserved in Miami-Dade County. As a medical student I've been rotating here for about a month in physician services.
For potential patients:
First and foremost, know that this center caters mainly to the poor and homeless. Many patients come from Camillus House, which is a homeless shelter in Miami. Patients are mostly uninsured or under-insured on government-sponsored insurance. That said, the quality of care is excellent. Drs. Hiriart, Zabala, and Rama are really caring physicians who try to do everything they can for their patients within reason of the system. They come from good training backgrounds and are very competent, knowledgeable physicians. The staff are also very pleasant, and translation services for Creole and Spanish are available, albeit via workers and/or trainees who work there. The center also provides psych, labs, and social services, while referrals to subspecialties are done via the Jackson system. Finally, there's a dispensary, which is sort of like a pharmacy, from which patients are given free medications that have been donated to the center.
Other things the patient may want to know: the center does serve as a teaching site for several schools, including the UM and FIU medical schools. Thus, it is very common for the patient to be seen first by a medical student and then by the doctor. Second, the dispensary, because it runs on donations, does not have every drug available on the market. However, they have the essentials, and as I already mentioned they're free. Lastly, because referrals to subspecialists are through Jackson, it may take a while (around a month) to set an appointment.
For potential employees/trainees:
In the month I've been here I've seen a wealth of pathologies that one could only find in this population. With that also comes a wealth of social issues. That said, the atmosphere is very laid back. All your co-workers are nice, and the place is clean. As a medical student, my day starts at 9 and goes until about 4:30. Wednesday hours are 12-8p. The doctors have a laid back teaching style. UM residents also rotate here, making for a good, mixed dynamic. I have few gripes: one is that the day does sometimes go by slowly, and the second is the lack of a dedicated translation service (because my Spanish is almost non-existent).
All in all a very decent place for patients to receive care, and an easy rotation for me. (Just don't tell Dr. Hiriart! =P )
