UF Health Helps a Colleague Find Answers After 25 Years, So She Can Keep Caring for Others

For more than 25 years, Yasmine Rosa searched for answers. But everything changed while working at UF Health Medical Group Primary Care – Summerfield as site supervisor of the Patient Care Navigation & Access Center. She found not only answers but also people who truly cared.

Rosa was born with severe sinus and allergy issues that followed her into adulthood, parenthood and work. She saw multiple physicians over the years but was always left with temporary or ineffective solutions. By early 2025, her condition worsened, and she began experiencing migraines, dizziness, vertigo and more.

These symptoms not only caused Rosa discomfort, but also kept her from doing things she loved, like spending time with her family. Daily tasks became more difficult, and symptoms became more aggressive, but it did not go unnoticed.

Oscar Perez Gutierrez, MD, a primary care physician in internal medicine, was working with Rosa and noticed the impact these symptoms had on her. Dr. Perez took meaningful steps that led to answers Rosa had been searching for her whole life.

“We had been doing everything for Rosa, who is my friend, my colleague and coworker,” Dr. Perez said. “We had been giving her antibiotics. We had been giving her good treatments for her sinus infections. But she was not improving, and the new symptoms were very concerning. As an extra step and thinking out of the box, I decided to order a vascular study of the brain.”

The imaging showed there was more going on than the current treatment plan could address. Dr. Perez called Rosa and recommended she go straight to UF Health ENT and Allergy – The Oaks to receive more specialized care for the issue she had been battling her entire life.

Finally, there was an answer.

When explaining her ride to Gainesville, Rosa shared, “I started crying, and the crying wasn’t because I was upset or I needed surgery. I was crying tears of joy.”

At UF Health ENT and Allergy – The Oaks, Jeb Justice, MD, division chief of rhinology & skull base surgery, would perform a procedure that gave Rosa her life back.

“Imagine someone telling you all these years that there’s nothing wrong with you or just giving you medications, basically saying that this will solve the problem,” Rosa said. “I was jumping for joy. I was ready to have surgery for the first time in my life.”

Rosa now experiences life better than ever before, thanks to the incredible care she received and each team member who helped along the way. Her story reflects a journey that brought together physicians, nurses, imaging teams, specialists, surgeons and countless others across multiple UF Health practices.

Together, they uncovered what had gone undiagnosed for decades and helped change the course of her life.