Longtime OB-GYN at Jackson South hospital dies after novel coronavirus infection
A popular University of Miami obstetrician and gynecologist who worked at Jackson South Community Hospital in Palmetto Bay died Wednesday from complications of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, UM officials confirmed Thursday.
Luis Caldera-Nieves, 63, is at least the third healthcare worker in South Florida to die of COVID-19 and the second who worked at a facility run by Jackson Health System, Miami-Dade County’s public hospital.
Caldera was a longtime physician with the University of Miami Health System, or UHealth, and primarily practiced in Kendall, said Michael Paidas, a UHealth physician and chairman of the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive health at the UM Miller School of Medicine. UHealth provides about 90% of the doctors who practice at Jackson Health under a longstanding partnership.
“Our UHealth and Jackson Health systems grieve the loss of our esteemed and beloved colleague,” Paidas said in a prepared statement. “These are extremely challenging times and both UHealth and Jackson remain grateful to all healthcare employees and frontline workers during this pandemic.”
Caldera’s death underscores the risks doctors and nurses face as more patients present to hospitals with symptoms of COVID-19 while protective gear runs low and testing for the disease remains scarce and slow to produce results.
Jackson Health said Wednesday there were 148 people with COVID-19 hospitalized at one of the healthcare system’s three inpatient facilities in Miami, North Miami Beach and Palmetto Bay.
On March 28, a longtime nurse at Jackson Memorial Hospital died from complications of COVID-19. The nurse, Araceli Buendia Ilagan, 63, worked in the hospital’s intensive care unit. Two day’s before Ilagan’s death, a Margate physician also died from complications of COVID-19. Alex Hsu, 67, had worked as an internist for 35 years.
Caldera joined UM after serving in the Air Force and led the university’s obstetrics services in South Miami-Dade, Paidas said. He attended medical school at the University of Puerto Rico, according to his physician profile maintained by the Florida Department of Health, which licenses doctors.
Caldera is survived by his wife and six adult children.
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 4:20 PM.
