Retiring Jackson Health CEO receives the key to Coral Gables, other honors
Jackson Health CEO Carlos Migoya on Tuesday received the key to the city of Coral Gables, the city’s highest honor, as thanks for his years of service ahead of his upcoming retirement as leader of Miami-Dade’s public health system.
“Coral Gables is a big, huge deal for us, and what it’s meant for Jackson,” Migoya told the Miami Herald. “It’s a great honor.”
Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago presented Migoya, 75, with the key as applause broke out in the packed commission chambers after declaring April 14, 2026, as “Carlos Migoya Day” in the City Beautiful. Lago described Migoya as a longtime mentor and friend who “stepped into one of the most challenging roles of public health care and transformed it with vision, discipline and with your heart.”
Migoya, a retired banker, has served as Jackson’s CEO for nearly 15 years and is credited with saving the hospital system from financial ruin. He’s expected to step down at the end of May, though he will remain in an advisory role for Jackson’s new CEO, David Zambrana.
“Your legacy is not one that you built. It’s in the people you’ve influenced, the leaders you shaped, and the lives you’ve made better,” said Lago.
Jackson has grown under Migoya’s leadership into one of the largest public health systems in the country and will soon open one of the largest ERs in the nation. Prior to his Jackson CEO gig, Migoya briefly worked as the city manager of Miami, navigating it out of its own budget crisis. He did the job for a dollar.
“He’s the ultimate fixer,” Commissioner Richard Lara told the Herald following the proclamation ceremony.
Migoya received the key in front of a crowd of Jackson officials, friends and loved ones, including his wife Zuzel Jimenez, Jackson Health Foundation CEO Flavia Llizo, former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Stuart Miller, chair and CEO of Lennar Corporation and a member of the Miller family whose name appears on the University of Miami’s medical school.
Suarez, who was hired by Migoya as a college student to work as a bank teller at First Union, joked about the full-circle moment he experienced when, years later, he was a member of the Miami City Commission that hired Migoya to be city manager.
On Tuesday, Suarez gave Migoya his long overdue payment for serving as Miami city manager.
“He claims he never got his dollar, so I brought his dollar,” said Suarez as he passed Migoya a dollar bill.
“I’ll take your dollar,” a laughing Migoya said.
