Elizabeth Gonzalez: Team Lead, Habana, Tampa, FL –
Our employees are all patient care champions, but some go the extra mile and we want to give them the recognition they deserve. They embody the PPOA values known as S.I.T.E. – Safety, Integrity, Teamwork, Empathy – which informs our service to patients and the community through high quality health care.
As clinical team lead in PPOA’s busy Habana pain clinic, Elizabeth Gonzalez is responsible for four employees and up to 80 patients a day, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I feel such a sense of accomplishment to help others, even if it’s just a minimal issue,” she says. “Especially with our specialty, patients are in pain, they are aggravated already and making their day easer is very gratifying.”
A native of Miami, Gonzalez was in and out of doctors’ offices with health challenges as a child. She noticed how accommodating certain nurses were with her mother, making a frustrating situation easier to handle. “I decided,” she said, “that I wanted to be that person.”
Gonzalez has worked for Physician Partners of America for one year and recently graduated with her AA degree in Health Service Administration from Keiser University. She came to PPOA after working as an endoscopic tech/office supervisor in a gastroenterology practice.
“In healthcare, just because you are not a doctor or a nurse practitioner, it doesn’t matter,” she says. “You are part of the patient’s treatment plan.”
Gonzalez not only runs the Habana office; she doesn’t hesitate to travel to other PPOA clinics when they are shorthanded.
“She is always going above and beyond, helping any clinic that needs it,” says Eric Alvarez, regional clinical supervisor. “She is always available to patients and always willing to assist.”
Gonzalez and her family live in Valrico, Fla., a suburb of Tampa. She enjoys reading, especially romance novels.
