Dr. Jose Bejarano

Dr. Jose Roberto Bejarano, age 91 passed away on February 7th, 2023 in Macon, Georgia at The Atrium Hospital. Dr. Bejarano was born in Camaguey, Cuba and graduated from The Institute in Camaguey where he received his B.S. in 1949. His medical school journey at the University of Havana was interrupted by the Cuban Revolution. Dr. Bejarano received his M.D. from the University of Havana in 1959. He did his internship at Calixto Garcia University Hospital and Reina Mercedes University Hospital. Later he worked at the Sacred Heart Hospital in El Vedado in Havana. As far as sports, he was an amateur boxer and loved the sport. In July 1960 he married Elba Zaldivar, his girlfriend since they were both teens. Dr. Bejarano is survived by his son Robert, his daughter Lourdes Suggs and her husband Rick; grandchildren Ashley Avant, Amber Holder (Derek), Kristopher Suggs (Kelly), Victoria Lucero (Brian), Ricky Lee Suggs (Amber). Also, nieces and nephews, Elsy Martinez (Raul), Maria Zaldivar, Bert Bejarano (Tammy), and eight great-grandchildren, He was preceded in his death by his parents, Gaspar and Maria, his wife Elba Bejarano, his brother Gaspar, and his niece Lilly. During the early sixties when he saw the changes in the direction of the revolution, he requested permission to leave the country. This was the process that had to be taken to leave. Once this was done, the regime knew then that he was not in favor of the communist government and he and his family became enemies of the State. He was punished and sent to work as the Doctor of one of the forced labor camps instituted by the Castro regime. The U.M.A.P. These were camps in the vein of the Soviet Gulags. Priests, professionals, musicians, gays, and others not in favor of the regime were sent to be “re-educated” via hard labor. The only crime was dissent. In 1966 the US presented pictures of the camps taken by U-2 Spy planes to the U.N. and the Cuban government was forced to close the camps. There is an anecdote where the camp commanders wanted to send a very sick prisoner to the fields and insisted that my father use a pencil instead of a thermometer to “take his temperature” and send the prisoner to do hard labor regardless of his condition, my father intervened was able to save the man’s life. At the time, if you were of military age, you had to serve in the military so, being a medical doctor he held the rank of Lieutenant and had to wear the olive-green fatigues that the Cuban Army wore. He refused and wore the traditional white jacket that doctors in Cuba wore. He was followed from our home to work and back daily by Military Intelligence or G-2. For those who don’t understand the implications, he could have been executed for less. After the UN forced the Cuban government to close the camps, they sent him to work in rural towns as far as the southern coast of Havana province. There he would provide medical service to the fisherman and their families who were aware that in Havana there was no food and everything was rationed, so they gave my father buckets of lobster, fresh red snapper, and other fruits of the sea not available for purchase anywhere. We ate very well thanks to the incompetence of the system. And my father was loved by the town’s people. Ten years after requesting to leave, we were granted permission and flew to Spain where we lived in Madrid for nine months while we waited for the U.S. Visas. While in Spain, he offered medical services to Cuban exiles in Spain and studied for the ECFMG which is the test foreign medical graduates must pass before being able to practice in the US. He passed the test the first time he took it, not a common occurrence. He also passed the Florida Board, the Georgia Flex, and worked at C.S.H. in Milledgeville, Ga. for nearly three decades where he oversaw the Children’s and Adolescent Unit. A few of his publications include: Gastrointestinal Treatment Evaluation-1962 Psychiatric Evaluation of Gastrointestinal Ulcer Patients- 1963 Outline of Cause and Treatment of Insomnia- 1963 Korsakoff’s Psychosis-Presentation of six cases- 1964 Psychoneurosis, Study, and Evaluation- 1963 Treatment of the Psychotic Epileptic- 1966 Manic Depressive Psychosis- Study, Evaluation, and Treatment- 1966 Symptoms and Management of Acute Chorea- 1967 He was a dog lover. You always saw him with his last dog Perri in his arms. May he rest in peace in the arms of the Lord.

Dr. Jose Bejarano

October 23, 1931 - February 7, 2023