Baptist Health Academics
Senior Leadership

Javier Hernández-Lichtl began his career with Baptist Health as an administrative resident at Baptist Hospital more than 30 years ago. Today, he leads Doctors Hospital and Baptist Health Orthopedic Care. He also holds the role of Chief Academic Officer for Baptist Health South Florida, leading Baptist Health Academics, which includes all nursing, pharmacy, allied health and Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs. Additionally, he serves as the executive responsible for all green and sustainability initiatives for the organization.

Mr. Hernández-Lichtl’s dedication to the South Florida community encompasses not only healthcare but also education, and the arts. He currently serves on the board of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and is a past board member of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, and a past chair of the board of trustees of Miami International University of Art & Design. Through board service to the Florida Sterling Award, he promotes Florida’s competitive edge by encouraging, assessing and recognizing performance excellence.

A graduate of Holy Cross College, Mr. Hernández-Lichtl also holds a master’s degree in public health administration from Tulane University in New Orleans. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Agueda Hernandez, MD, FAAFP is the Chief Medical Officer of Baptist Health Academics. She received her undergraduate and doctor of medicine degrees from Brown University. Dr. Hernandez joined Baptist Health South Florida in 2012 as the founding associate director of the West Kendall Baptist Hospital/Florida International University Family Medicine Residency and medical director of the Baptist Health Medical Group Family Medicine Center. The family medicine program was the first ACGME accredited residency at BHSF. Dr. Hernandez became the program director in 2015. During her tenure, the applicant pool grew from 300 to as many as 2000 candidates vying for four positions each year, and the program maintained a 100% Match fill rate with students from medical schools including FIU, UM, Nova and Tufts. She oversaw the graduation of four cohorts of residents with 100% board examination pass rate and a program mean far above the national mean. Residents and faculty have presented research and projects at national meetings including the annual educational conference of the ACGME and the scientific assembly of the American College of Cardiology. In 2019, two WKBH/FIU residents had a poster accepted for the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students of the American Academy of Family Physicians. It was one of 12 posters selected nationwide for onsite peer review. The family medicine residency graduates are practicing in diverse settings from urgent care to hospice, with most graduates remaining within BHSF including at West Kendall Baptist Hospital, Baptist Health Primary Care, and the South Miami Hospital emergency department.

Zuanel Diaz, PhD is the Assistant Vice President of Interprofessional Education of Baptist Health Academics. She oversees scholarly education, allied health training programs, resuscitation training, and simulation laboratory activities.

Dr. Diaz received her PhD in Experimental Medicine from McGill University and joined Baptist Health South Florida in 2016 as the founding director of the Protocol Support Laboratory and Biospecimen Repository Facility. Under her leadership the facility was designed, operated and accredited by the College of American Pathologists to serve one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the United States. The infrastructure have supported more than 100 oncology clinical trials, 30 translational research projects with biomarkers endpoints and provided a foundation for 8 grant applications. She hosted the 12th Leaders in Biobanking Conference with 194 participants from Unites States, Canada, United Kingdom, South Korea and India and contributed to knowledge dissemination through numerous presentations and publications. She has a community-based appointment with the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics at Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University.

Amanda Murphy, MSN, RN is the Assistant Vice President for Nursing Education for Baptist Health Academics. Amanda oversees all aspects of nursing education from novice to graduate learning and experiences. Amanda joined Bethesda Health as a direct patient care nurse in 2009. In 2012, she joined the Bethesda College of Health Sciences as a clinical instructor and shortly afterward transitioned to a faculty member, directing several didactic classes, as well as clinical experiences. Amanda began her previous role of Dean of Bethesda College in 2017, leading both the nursing and radiography programs through institutional and programmatic accreditations. Additionally, the nursing program consistently recorded first time NCLEX pass rates in the 90th percentile during her tenure. Amanda received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and her master’s Degree in Nursing Education from the University of Mary. She is currently completing her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at Chamberlain University. Amanda serves on several local University and College Advisory Boards and is a Peer Evaluator for the ACEN.

Jason Bell, MBA is Assistant Vice President of Operations for Baptist Health Academics with responsibility over the Office of Academic Affairs, Business Education, Pharmacy Education, administrative project management and system-wide Green & Sustainability initiatives and is the Program Director for the Healthcare Administration Fellowship program.

Mr. Bell has held various leadership roles in the organization including directing the Medical Education, Physician Relations and Business Development departments and overseeing strategic projects such as the Baptist Health Multi- Generational Business Resource Group and the annual ZooRun5K & ZooKidsDash fundraiser. Mr. Bell currently directs the health system’s Sustainability efforts and is the inaugural chairman of the Florida Hospital Association’s Sustainability Collaborative. He is the recipient, personally and on behalf of Baptist Health, of distinguished awards from Sustainable Florida, Dream in Green and the U.S. Green Building Council.

A graduate of the University of Florida, Mr.Bell holds degrees in Anthropology, Integrative Biology and Business Administration. He currently serves as an Adjunct Instructor for the Florida International University Honors Program where he teaches Human-Centric Skills for Success, a course focused on customer experience, communication skills and cultural competency.