Zengotita celebrates 10 years with Mercy
Doug Stroemel, president of Mercy Hospital, (left) congratulates Dr. Jaime Zengotita, Mercy’s chief of staff, at the ceremony celebrating Zengotita’s 10 years of service with the hospital on Thursday, November 20. At the ceremony, Stroemel spoke of meeting Zengotita for the first time. He said he was very impressed with Zengotita and was very pleased when he came to work at Mercy.
November 12, 2014
Steve Chapman
Dr. Jaime Zengotita, Mercy Hospital’s Chief of Staff, was honored in a ceremony on Thursday, November 20, for 10 years of service with the hospital. Almost 50 of Zengotita’s colleagues, patients and friends attended.
Known affectionately at Mercy as “Dr. J. Z.,” Zengotita was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The son of an accountant and a nurse, he grew up knowing he wanted to be a doctor, a choice he has never second-guessed. “I don’t ever see myself doing anything different,” he said.
Zengotita did his undergraduate work at the University of Puerto Rico, where he graduated with honors, and then went to medical school at the Ponce School of Medicine, graduating in 1997. He made the decision to go into family medicine while on rotations in medical school because he felt it was where he could help his patients the most.
“It was the first line of contact with patients,” Zengotita said. “They treated the whole family: the kids, the parents, the grandparents, etc. And I thought to myself, ‘That’s what I want to do.’”
After finishing medical school, Zengotita went to Akron, Ohio, to begin a residency in family medicine which he completed in 2000. He remained in Akron for another four years where he worked at a federally qualified health center.
In 2004, a friend of Zengotita who worked at Mercy Hospital, Dr. Humberto Hernandez, invited him to come to Cassville to see about a position with the hospital. After visiting, Zengotita and his wife of 20 years, Itza, decided he would accept the job.
Zengotita said their decision was made due to the calling of a higher power. “We prayed about it,” he said, “and felt this was where we were being called to come, and we came.”
As Mercy’s Chief of Staff, Zengotita has many responsibilities, including overseeing the hospital’s medical staff and dealing with peer review cases. However, he feels his most important responsibility is quality assurance. His goal is to make sure that Mercy is always providing the highest possible level of care to patients.
Not only does Zengotita serve as chief of staff at Mercy, he is also section chair Mercy’s West Region clinics. As such, he oversees the clinics in Cassville, Aurora, Monett, Mt. Vernon, Lockwood and El Dorado Springs. He is also the chair of the medical staff council for Mercy’s regional hospitals in Aurora, Cassville, Mountain View, Lebanon and Berryville, Ark.
Despite having so much responsibility, Zengotita said he loves his job because he gets to work with his patients from the time they are diagnosed until the time they are cured. “It’s very fulfilling,” he said. Mercy president Doug Stroemel, who gave the opening remarks at Zengotita’s ceremony, said such hard work and dedication has earned Zengotita not only the respect and admiration of the hospital staff, but the outlying community as well.
Work leaves Zengotita with little spare time, but when he’s home, he likes to spend time with his family. He and Itza have three daughters, Monica, 18, Melanie, 17, and Gabriella, 12. Monica is currently in a pre-med program at Missouri State University in Springfield, while Melanie is also strongly considering going into medicine after she graduates from high school this year. Gabriella, on the other hand, wants to be a veterinarian.
Zengotita is also very active in his church, Seventh Day Adventist in Monett. As first elder, he often delivers sermons to the congregation. Additionally, Zengotita also teaches a class for the church youth.
Future plans for Zengotita include serving at least another 20 years at Mercy in Cassville, after which he said he and his wife would like to travel and see the rest of the United States, maybe other countries as well. For now, though, he is content to remain at Mercy Hospital, where he enjoys working with the patients and staff. “It’s a great community, and the people I work with are great people,” he said.
Steve Chapman
Dr. Jaime Zengotita, Mercy Hospital’s Chief of Staff, was honored in a ceremony on Thursday, November 20, for 10 years of service with the hospital. Almost 50 of Zengotita’s colleagues, patients and friends attended.
Known affectionately at Mercy as “Dr. J. Z.,” Zengotita was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The son of an accountant and a nurse, he grew up knowing he wanted to be a doctor, a choice he has never second-guessed. “I don’t ever see myself doing anything different,” he said.
Zengotita did his undergraduate work at the University of Puerto Rico, where he graduated with honors, and then went to medical school at the Ponce School of Medicine, graduating in 1997. He made the decision to go into family medicine while on rotations in medical school because he felt it was where he could help his patients the most.
“It was the first line of contact with patients,” Zengotita said. “They treated the whole family: the kids, the parents, the grandparents, etc. And I thought to myself, ‘That’s what I want to do.’”
After finishing medical school, Zengotita went to Akron, Ohio, to begin a residency in family medicine which he completed in 2000. He remained in Akron for another four years where he worked at a federally qualified health center.
In 2004, a friend of Zengotita who worked at Mercy Hospital, Dr. Humberto Hernandez, invited him to come to Cassville to see about a position with the hospital. After visiting, Zengotita and his wife of 20 years, Itza, decided he would accept the job.
Zengotita said their decision was made due to the calling of a higher power. “We prayed about it,” he said, “and felt this was where we were being called to come, and we came.”
As Mercy’s Chief of Staff, Zengotita has many responsibilities, including overseeing the hospital’s medical staff and dealing with peer review cases. However, he feels his most important responsibility is quality assurance. His goal is to make sure that Mercy is always providing the highest possible level of care to patients.
Not only does Zengotita serve as chief of staff at Mercy, he is also section chair Mercy’s West Region clinics. As such, he oversees the clinics in Cassville, Aurora, Monett, Mt. Vernon, Lockwood and El Dorado Springs. He is also the chair of the medical staff council for Mercy’s regional hospitals in Aurora, Cassville, Mountain View, Lebanon and Berryville, Ark.
Despite having so much responsibility, Zengotita said he loves his job because he gets to work with his patients from the time they are diagnosed until the time they are cured. “It’s very fulfilling,” he said. Mercy president Doug Stroemel, who gave the opening remarks at Zengotita’s ceremony, said such hard work and dedication has earned Zengotita not only the respect and admiration of the hospital staff, but the outlying community as well.
Work leaves Zengotita with little spare time, but when he’s home, he likes to spend time with his family. He and Itza have three daughters, Monica, 18, Melanie, 17, and Gabriella, 12. Monica is currently in a pre-med program at Missouri State University in Springfield, while Melanie is also strongly considering going into medicine after she graduates from high school this year. Gabriella, on the other hand, wants to be a veterinarian.
Zengotita is also very active in his church, Seventh Day Adventist in Monett. As first elder, he often delivers sermons to the congregation. Additionally, Zengotita also teaches a class for the church youth.
Future plans for Zengotita include serving at least another 20 years at Mercy in Cassville, after which he said he and his wife would like to travel and see the rest of the United States, maybe other countries as well. For now, though, he is content to remain at Mercy Hospital, where he enjoys working with the patients and staff. “It’s a great community, and the people I work with are great people,” he said.
