Her Story
About Yahaira
I started in healthcare at 18 when my mom suggested I get a medical assistant degree while I was graduating high school. I was originally planning to go into teaching, but I fell in love with healthcare after starting at an internal medicine endocrinology practice. I was really good at what I was doing at such a young age, and they kept asking me to spearhead different initiatives. I started with the clinical aspect but then dove into the operational side and realized I was more strong-suited for that based on my personality. Over 34 years, I've worked across multiple specialties including endocrinology, neurology, cardiology, pulmonology, internal medicine, and urology, spending 21 years in cardiology. Whatever they ask me to dive into, I take on. Now as Practice Director for the Allergy division at Lee Health, I focus on clinical operations management, supporting recruitment, operational growth initiatives, strengthening team engagement, and promoting culture, transparency, and continuous improvement. I'm very passionate about developing systems that support both patient and staff, driving sustainable improvement in workflow and service delivery, patient experience, and safety for my staff. I'm a numbers person and it's all about movement up - I don't like to stay stagnant. Everywhere I've gone, there's been not only a sense of growth for the practice, but for myself. I feel like I'm just getting started and still have much more to go.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Yahaira
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think two things. One, I trust God big time. 100%, you know, who I served at a church, I'm like, God is 100% my source. And two, I always say, people see higher when they step on the shoulders of those that have actually carried them. So, there's so many people that I have contributed to who I am today - everyone has contributed to something that I am today.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Whatever you do, do it passionately and wholeheartedly, and remember, you're not going to change the world, you're going to change one person that will impact another person, and those people will change the world.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think remain humble. Always something to learn. When I got into this industry, there wasn't HMOs, there wasn't HIPAA, there wasn't CLIA, OSHA, any of these regulatory requirements - life was different then. There was no computers, we had to keep track of everything manually. And to keep yourself open for innovation and change, especially now with the AI era coming through. We don't know what's gonna be the next change. I'm open to it. It's actually been a very helpful tool for us, and whatever could help a patient or help us along the way is welcome.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think staying open to innovation is one. I never feel like there's challenges, I always feel like there's just opportunity - that's the way I look at it. I just think it's opportunity to change maybe what we currently have into something a little bit better.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Accountability. Compassion. Communication. I follow through. Whatever you see here is what you'll get at home. But for the most part, I try to remain always humble, as a friend of mine always tells me, and remember there's always something to learn. I like to learn from everyone around me.
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