Elder advocate Josefina Carbonell is to be nominated assistant secretary of health and human services.

 BY ELAINE DE VALLE

 President Bush will tap one of South Florida's strongest advocates for the elderly to help guide the federal government on aging issues and senior citizen services.

 The administration on Thursday said it intends to nominate Josefina Carbonell, president and chief executive of the Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Centers, as
 assistant secretary of health and human services for aging.

 Carbonell, who served on the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare in Washington, will require Senate confirmation.

 She will be the first person from Florida to serve in the aging department and is the third Cuban American selected for a prominent position in the Bush administration. The others are Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez and Otto Reich, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemispheric affairs.

 Carbonell was already in the nation's capital Thursday -- at the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, where she serves on the board -- catching up on issues and
 programs.

 "It's indeed a wonderful honor to be chosen by President Bush,'' she said. ``It's also a privilege to serve older Americans throughout the country.''

 If confirmed, she will report to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson.

 "I don't think she'll have any difficulty with confirmation,'' said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami. ``We've been really plugging her hard because there is no one more qualified than Josefina to lead the charge on senior health issues.''

 "They couldn't have picked a better person,'' said John Stokesberry, executive director of the Alliance for Aging, which administers about $45 million in federal and state funds for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. He has known Carbonell for more than 20 years, since he was appointed the state's director of aging in 1980 by then-Gov. Bob Graham.

 "Josefina has devoted her whole life to working in the aging network, and as a provider she has an insight that is unique,'' he said.

 "She's knowledgeable. She's experienced. She's politically astute. She's compassionate. And she's sensitive to the multicultural, multiethnic community, which is what the rest of the country will look like in the next 15 to 20 years.''

 Carbonell came from Cuba in 1961 and started her advocacy career as a volunteer when she feared service agencies were bypassing immigrants. She was a founder of the Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Centers in 1972.

 Among her first jobs now is to look at a new family caregiver support program being implemented by the administration. It's the first significant new program in the area of caregiver support, she said, since the meals program approved in the early 1970s. The $125 million program, she said, will provide services for caregivers -- access to information, respite care, home care, support programs and more.

 Carbonell's other priorities include Medicaid reform and prescription drug benefits.

 ``This is a very important historical moment,'' she said. ``America is aging. The demographics reflect the tremendous surge of older Americans in our country and a need to have available support, information and access to information for many caregivers with aging parents or relatives.''

 She said she is reluctant to leave her family and friends behind -- though she plans to keep her Coral Gables home.

 ``One of the hardest things is not to be able to drive to Little Havana every morning and see my little old people, but I think the president has given me the opportunity to not only help the Miami-Dade elderly but all the older Americans throughout the country.''

                                    © 2001