Changing for the Better – Islamorada Medical Center

The goal doesn’t change, but the path to get there often does—a truth many know all too well. Life has a way of disrupting our best-laid plans, forcing us to pause, adapt, and find a new way forward. For Dr. Miguel Diaz-Miret, the past two years have been a masterclass in exactly that—learning when to step back for his family’s health, when to lean on God, and ultimately, how to work his way back to the practice and patients he loves with renewed purpose and a strong team by his side.

His detour started with an injury, then something far more serious: his son’s chronic disease diagnosis. Suddenly, the doctor who had spent years caring for others at Islamorada Medical Center needed to focus that same intensity on his own family. Dr. Diaz and his wife made the difficult decision to move from the Keys to West Palm Beach, where their son could receive specialized care and their four children could attend one of Florida’s top Christian schools after theirs closed locally. Between hospital visits, school schedules, and his two-hour commute to his clinic, something had to give.

“I never quit the practice,” Dr. Diaz explains, “but I scaled back to one day a week at the clinic. I did everything I could to keep things running smoothly in my absence, but honestly? I fell short.”

As his son’s condition stabilized and the family found their rhythm, Dr. Diaz began the journey back. Not just physically returning to four days a week, but emotionally and strategically rebuilding what he calls “Islamorada Medical Center 2.0.”

“We’re hitting full stride now,” he says with unmistakable optimism. “We have a bigger and better team, and we’re getting incredible feedback. This is our fresh start.”

A Familiar Face Becomes Family

One of the cornerstones of that fresh start is Dr. Dhaarak Desai, who officially joined the team as a full-time physician after three and a half years of working at the clinic during his residency. For patients, Dr. Desai isn’t a stranger—he’s the doctor who’s been quietly building relationships one appointment at a time, every week for years.

Dr. Desai’s path to medicine started young. His father, a radiology technician, would bring home X-rays and CT scans, teaching his son anatomy like bedtime stories. Those early lessons sparked a fascination that eventually led Desai to medical school and a residency at Larkin Community Hospital, where he served as Chief Resident.

Initially drawn to obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Desai discovered his true calling during a family medicine rotation when he treated four generations of women in a single visit. “That’s when I realized family medicine offers the full spectrum, from birth through aging” he explains. “That’s what drew me in.”

What drew him to the Keys, though, was something else entirely: the challenge and intimacy of rural medicine. “There’s very limited specialty care here, so people who practice rural medicine need broad knowledge,” Dr. Desai says. “We have to identify and manage chronic diseases before sending patients all the way to Miami— no one wants to make that drive. So we handle as much as possible locally.”

His commitment to helping others extends beyond the exam room. Dr. Desai founded the KIND Toys Initiative, which collects, cleans, and distributes toys to underserved communities in India and beyond. He also co-founded the Primrose Health Literacy Initiative with his wife, a second-year resident at Larkin, to bring health education into underserved schools. “So many health disparities come from people simply not knowing how to care for themselves,” he explains. “Education changes that.”

The Fighter Pilot Who Landed in Paradise

If Dr. Desai represents the future of Islamorada Medical Center, Dr. Felix Fernandez embodies the wealth of experience that only decades of service can provide. Dr. Fernandez joined the team in September 2024, bringing with him 14 years of family medicine experience and a background that makes even Dr. Diaz a bit starstruck.

“He’s an F-14 pilot—the real deal,” Dr. Diaz says with genuine admiration. “I used to watch from the flight deck as guys like him landed on our aircraft carrier, on that tiny strip, and think, ‘How do they do that?’ And here he is, so modest about the whole thing.”

Dr. Fernandez’s military service included combat missions aboard the USS Nimitz during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. After his honorable discharge in 1993, he attended medical school at Nova Southeastern University and built a distinguished career in family medicine across Florida and Tennessee.

But for years, Dr. Fernandez has been planning on landing in the Keys for good. He bought a house here over a decade ago, visiting two or three times a year while working in Tennessee. When he and his wife became empty nesters, the decision became clear: it was time to make the Keys home.

“His plan was always to retire here,” Dr. Diaz says, “so joining our team was the perfect next step for him and a perfect fit for us..”

The Front Lines Get Reinforcements

While adding exceptional physicians was critical, Dr. Diaz knew that clinical excellence alone wouldn’t solve everything. The front desk operations had been struggling. Wait times were too long. Administrative hiccups were too frequent. The medicine was excellent, but the infrastructure needed work.

Enter Ivette Chao, a Keys native with over 30 years in the community and a background managing the local DMV. Dr. Diaz first met her when she was hired to organize a clinic function, and he immediately recognized her organizational prowess.

“Ivette brought all of her administrative skills and problem-solving abilities with her. She’s detailed, organized, efficient, and she keeps everything running smoothly. She’s been instrumental in changing things for the better.”

The changes go deeper than one hire, though. They’ve also added a new medical assistant and expanded the front desk team to seven people—yes, seven—three in the office and four virtually to handle all administrative needs.

“The medicine was always the easy part for me. Running the front end smoothly? That was the real challenge,” Dr. Diaz admits. “We’ve listened to patient feedback and have made vast improvements.”

Better is Always the Goal

With the team stabilized and operations running more efficiently, Islamorada Medical Center is doubling down on its comprehensive approach to family medicine. The practice offers everything from newborn care to geriatrics, but specializes in services that are particularly hard to access in the Keys: hormone replacement therapy, advanced skin cancer screening and surgery for definitive treatment, hair transplants, laser therapy for urinary incontinence, OB/GYN services, and even at-home wound care and house calls for patients who can’t easily travel.

The practice has also expanded into medical aesthetics, offering platelet-rich plasma treatments, fillers, and Botox, alongside an on-site aesthetician and nail technician. They’ve even added behavioral therapy services to address the mental health needs that too often go unmet in rural areas.

“We’re not just treating illnesses,” Dr. Diaz explains. “We’re helping people live better, feel better, look better. That’s always been the goal.”

For the patients who stuck with them through the rough patches, and for the new patients just discovering what the practice has to offer, the message is clear: Islamorada Medical Center has changed for the better.