Vol. 96, Issue 4
Oct. 1 - Oct. 21, 2025
UHealth expands with SoLé Mia ambulatory center By Katie Karlson Editor-in-Chief SoLé Mia, UHealth’s newest development and largest ambulatory center in North Miami, opened for patients on Tuesday, Sept. 30. The property is a 184-acre development with outpatient care, residential spaces, restaurants and stores. SoLé Mia features a collaboration between UHealth Orthopedics and the Hospital for Special Surgery. HSS has been ranked the No.1 orthopedic hospital in the U.S. for 16 years in a row. The ambulatory center is for outpatient operations only, meaning that patients can stay up to 23 hours before being discharged. Specialists from all of UHealth’s top-ranked services are providing care at SoLé Mia, including those from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. The clinical building itself is seven stories tall with an adjacent parking garage, 110 exam rooms, 10 operating rooms and 33 clinical units designed for cancer treat-
ment. It is the first UHealth building to integrate artificial intelligence into its design. Artificial intelligence, including ambient listening, will reduce administrative work and improve operational efficiency so that doctors can spend more time with patients. Dr. Joseph Pizzolato, an oncologist at the Sylvester Comprehensive Care Center, is excited for SoLé Mia to bring a positive health care experience to his community. “With the opening of Lennar in Coral Gables in 2016, we began to see what was possible in healthcare,” he said. “The feeling of cold waiting rooms, endless wait times and the need to travel all over the county for appointments to see the best doctors vanished upon entering the building.” Dr. Pizzolato said that SoLé Mia is the newest, most advanced version of this vision.
“With SoLé Mia, we are bringing true, world-class care to the North Dade and Miami Beach area,” he said. “As I have served this area for over 21 years, I’m excited for the community to truly experience this and put an end to the negative stigmata of healthcare.” The artwork in the building is very intentional, helping to eliminate the sterile feeling in many hospitals. The bottom floor starts with art representing dusk and the top floor mimics the sunrise. “The Colors of Sound” painting by Nicolle Cure, a former UHealth patient who experienced sudden hearing loss in 2017, hangs on the audiology floor. UHealth SoLé Mia’s opening has created 650 new jobs in addition to new spots for physicians rotating between
UHealth locations. This location is purely a clinical enterprise and is not intended for research or student research. Developers invested more than $1.2 billion into the community, which includes UHealth and other properties. Dr. Estelamari Rodriguez, a thoracic oncologist at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, is most excited about SoLé Mia’s technology and new programs. “After 17 years of serving this community, I’ve seen firsthand the lack of access to cutting-edge research, top multidisciplinary care and opportunities for true community engagement. The new UHealth Sole Mia changes that,” said Dr. Rodriguez. “For the first time, patients c a n
The newly opened SoLé Mia ambulatory center pictured in North Miami.
Photo Courtesy of University of Miami Health System
HHS moves to ‘decertify’ Miller School’s organ recovery agency By Katie Karlson & Daniella Krasney Editor-in-Chief & News Editor The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is moving to decertify the “failing” Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency, a division at UM’s Miller School of Medicine as of Thursday, Sept. 18. This move comes after an HHS investigation revealed “years of poor training, chronic underperformance, understaffing and paperwork errors.” The HHS cited a 2024 case of a surgeon mistakenly declining a donated heart for a transplant patient. Life Alliance, a division of the Daughtry Family Department of Surgery at Miller, is one of the 55 organ procurement organizations in the U.S. These organizations are regulated by HHS through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. If completed, this would be the first government decertification of an OPO, according to The Hill. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s initiative to reform the organ transplant system was launched in July after the Health Resources and Services Administration “revealed disturbing practices” by an unidentified OPO. The HHS investigation
receive world-class care, take part in groundbreaking research and connect with wellness programs — all under one roof, close to home.” This opening comes just less than a year after UHealth Doral opened, showing the expanding presence of UHealth and its contribution to the local economy and job market. According to Dr. Gilberto de Lima Lopes Jr., associate director for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, “UHealth represents a little more than 60% of UM’s operational revenue.” Dr. Lopes feels that expanding into the North Miami and Aventura areas is going to improve access to care. “This offers new referral channels, easier access to patients, and possibly alleviation of pressure on central facilities,” he said. While patients will not be able to stay overnight, patients can visit SoLé Mia for consultations, laboratory tests, X-rays and follow up visits. There are no in-patient beds, so patients would need to choose a different UHealth location if they require hospitalization.
found that at least 28 organ donors nationally may not have been clinically dead when organ procurement was initiated. “Our findings show that hospitals
“The entire system must be fixed to ensure that every potential donor’s life is treated with the sanctity it deserves.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs of life, and this is horrifying,” said Kennedy. “The entire system must be fixed to ensure that every
potential donor’s life is treated with the sanctity it deserves.” Morgan Burger, a nursing student at UM who is rotating in the transplant unit of Jackson Memorial Hospital, is worried that decertifying Life Alliance will destabilize the organ transplantation process, resulting in negative outcomes for patients. “I think it’s hard enough for patients to get off the transplant list. Adding a transition, another obstacle in this tumultuous process is hard to hear.” Burger also acknowledged that “staffing is an issue” in the healthcare industry, a factor that HHS has stated they are looking to improve. Emily Hillard, press secretary for HHS, said in an email exchange that during the decertification process, “families, hospitals and patients in South Florida will continue to have access to organ recovery and transplantation services.” A process of “competition” will allow other OPOs to take over the South Florida certification, allowing patients access to care after Life Alliance is decertified. UM medical and transplant organizations have faced other investigations in the past. Continued on page 2.
Miami volunteers join global coastal cleanup
Reawakening the fight against a cancer virus
By Leelou Lambolez Contributing Writer
Why prosecutors mistakenly believed key witness in fatal 2006 shooting of Hurricane football player was dead By Mel Tenkoff Managing Editor In an exclusive exchange with The Hurricane, the Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office explained why prosecutors mistakenly believed that a key witness in the 2006 shooting of Miami Hurricanes’ Bryan Pata was dead. Pata, who was projected as a possible third-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, was just 22 years old when he died. He was shot and killed outside his Kendall apartment complex on Nov. 7, 2006. The key witness, former UM English professor Paul Conner, told police he heard a “pop” and saw a man “jogging away” from the parking lot entrance in a 2022 testimony. Conner identified Pata’s former teammate, Rashaun Jones, as the alleged shooter in a photo lineup, according to ESPN. Since the summer of 2025, prosecutors have mistakenly reported that Conner was dead. SAO Public Information Officer Ed Griffith said investigators relied on the public records database
CLEAR which indicated Conner had died. Officers in Louisville then conducted a welfare check by knocking on Conner’s door to confirm his death on July 8, 2025. “Upon hearing no sounds from inside, [Homicide Detective Russell Lassiter and Officer Joseph Gonzales] visited the management office who informed them they did not have an individual by [the name Paul Conner] living there,” Griffith said. Later this summer, reporters from ESPN knocked on Conner’s apartment door expecting no response, but instead found him alive. ESPN then contacted the SAO for a comment on Sept. 18, alerting prosecutors that Conner was alive. “Louisville Homicide was again contacted and Detectives Budzinski and Burns went to Conner’s residence on Sept. 18 and made contact with him,” Griffith said. The State received body camera footage from Louisville Metro Police documenting officers’ visits on July 8, July 22 and Sept. 18. Continued on page 2.
‘The Academy,’ cowritten by sophomore Shelby Cunningham
The top five best Miami football jerseys of all time
By Christian McDonald
By Jenna Simone
By Vivian Amoia
Guest Columnist
Assistant A&E Editor
Contributing Writer
More than 3,000 volunteers joined the 40th annual International Coastal Cleanup, collecting 25,000 pounds of trash across Miami-Dade. At Rickenbacker Marina, UM’s Rescue a Reef led 50 participants in removing 200 pounds while contributing to debris research.
More than 90% of people worldwide carry a herpesvirus, but one strain — Kaposi’s Sarcoma Herpesvirus — can trigger cancer. UM PhD candidate Christian McDonald argues the urgent need for a vaccine to prevent KSHV’s deadly impact, especially in vulnerable communities.
Best-selling novelist Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter, UM sophomore Shelby Cunningham, launched their first co-written novel, The Academy, at Lakeside Expo Center. The duo shared insights on collaboration, Gen Z authenticity and tackling privilege, scandal and social media.
From vintage throwbacks to sleek modern styles, Miami football jerseys have always made a statement. Our ranking names the all-white “Stormtrooper” combo as the Hurricanes’ greatest look, edging out fan favorites like “Miami Nights” and “Smoke.”
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