Hispanic Heritage Month: How AdventHealth team members’ life experiences shape compassionate care

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - More than 110,000 skilled team members bring distinct backgrounds, cultures and perspectives to AdventHealth's national care network. These experiences can help team members listen to what matters to each patient and deliver whole-person care in body, mind and spirit.

Observed from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates Hispanic and Latino histories and contributions. Three AdventHealth team member stories highlight moments when patients feel cared for, supported and welcomed -- bringing to life this year's official theme: "Unidos, somos más" ("Together, we are more").

At AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, nurse leader Leydi Flores turned her childhood experience of facing a language barrier into a passion for patient advocacy. After her family moved from the Dominican Republic to upstate New York, she entered fourth grade without knowing English and often waited for a translator, feeling lonely and unable to participate in everyday activities.

A few months after Flores moved to Florida, her mother began experiencing unexpected pain. New to the area, Flores took her to AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, where the team cared for her mother and listened to her concerns. Their compassion inspired Flores to apply for a job at the hospital. Now a nurse, she draws on her experience to help patients feel seen and heard, reflecting how identity can shape inclusive care.

At AdventHealth Gordon, Silvia Camacho Pinto turned the humanitarian service she saw growing up in Colombia into a career in emergency nursing. As a child, she accompanied her father, who led a small Seventh-day Adventist hospital, on medical mission trips. After moving to the United States at 15, she studied nursing, trained as an EMT and joined AdventHealth's EMS team; colleagues encouraged her goal of flight nursing.

Now, during helicopter transport, she reassures patients: "It's OK if you're scared. I'm not scared. I have your back."

At AdventHealth Parker, environmental services supervisor Liliana Limas uses Spanish, her native language, to help patients feel understood. Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, she moved to the U.S. at 16 and has helped patients and coworkers communicate since joining AdventHealth nearly 19 years ago.

When a patient woke up confused after a procedure, Limas spoke with him in Spanish and helped him understand what was happening and what to expect next.

"Thank you for helping me understand. I feel so much better now," he told her in Spanish.

Limas now leads a bilingual team and creates vocabulary guides for new coworkers to support Spanish-speaking patients.

Flores, Camacho Pinto and Limas bring distinct backgrounds and skills to different roles, each helping patients feel safer, understood and welcomed. Their stories embody whole-person care at work: attending to physical, emotional and spiritual needs through advocacy, reassurance and connection.

This Hispanic Heritage Month, AdventHealth celebrates these team members and the many others whose perspectives enrich its culture of care and advance the mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ. "Unidos, somos más" is a shared promise to show up for patients with compassion, presence and respect.