5 minute read
Maureen Haynes Barbados Nurses Association of America, (BNAA) Northwell Health
Consul General Special Award Maureen
Haynes
All through the pandemic, Barbadians still needed services, mostly to do with emergency travel. While the Consulate General at New York was accommodating, the person who was on the front line was Maureen Haynes.
The Passport Officer at the Consulate, she was the person who met with persons desperate for assistance – protocols in place but meet nevertheless. Maureen never once flinched.
By far, the longest serving staffer at the Consulate, and by the nature of her job often the busiest – certainly over sustained periods – Maureen, as required, is diligent about the details, dedicated to serving the Barbadian community with grace and is a darling with her colleagues.
From St. James, Barbados, Maureen worked at home with two law firms before moving to New York in July 1987. Four months later, she landed a job at the Consulate as a Receptionist. She then moved to Admin and took over as Passport Officer fully in 2010.
While she still covers at Reception and is the stand-in for the Secretary to the Consul General, Maureen hardly has time for anything except travel matters. With increased queries on travelling and requests for passports and citizenship, strange enough during the last two years of the pandemic, she has been busier than ever.
Now a month into her 35th year, Maureen cherishes the opportunity she has had to serve her fellow Barbadians, and would not want it any other way. Whenever she calls it a day, she will be missed.
Nurses Mission - A Sterling Example Of Service
Cicely Wilkinson Lestra Cox Sonia Forde Angela Trotman Keith Porter Lynette Bedford Shirley Holder Ursula Porter Sharon Bedford
Nothing in 2021 resonated in the Consulate’s community more than the Nurses Mission to Barbados out of New York.
The eight women and one man boosted spirits all around as they provided needed help to Barbados in its Covid-19 fight.
That they paid for their own flights, sacrificed vacation time and secured and paid for a range of supplies made their support all the more remarkable.
Barbados is expected to continue to benefit from the combined 250 years’ experience of the team.
The group of friends, all of whom except two are members of the Barbados Nurses Association of America are:
Dr. Cicely Wilkinson, a nurse for 32 years, who works at Maimonides Medical Center; Lestra Cox (T&T), a nurse for 33 1/2 years, who works at Maimonides Medical Center; Sonia Forde a nurse for 35 years, who works at Brookdale Hospital Medical Center; Angela Trotman, a nurse for 38 years, now retired, who last worked in Home Care at Northwell Health; Keith Porter, a nurse for 18 years who works at Kings County Hospital; Lynette Bedford, a nurse for 30 years, who works at Amerita Specialty Infusion Pharmacy; Shirley Holder, a nurse for 31 years, who works at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel; Ursula Porter, a nurse for 12 years and neonatal intensive care specialist since 2012 who is a travel nurse and Sharon Bedford, a nurse for 21 years, who works at Interfaith Medical Center.
Northwell Health
Answering the Call without Fail
Northwell Health demonstrated commitment to Barbados from the start of conversations in April this year.
It was evident in the highlevel teams that engaged in discussions, the care taken to understand the peculiarities of Barbados’ health system but, particularly, in Northwell’s response to calls to assist in the Covid-19 pandemic fight. Numerous personnel, led by Dr. Yves Duroseau, MD, MPH, Chairman, Emergency Medicine, VP EMSL, met with Consul General of Barbados at New York Mackie Holder, QEH and UWI staff, and had two sessions with Prime Minister Mia Mottley and government officials, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Jerome Walcott.
Eric Cioe Peña MD, MPH Director of Global Health, Office of Academic Affairs, Center for Global Health; Joe Leggio – Associate Executive Director, Patient and Customer Experience; and Asha Samuels, Project Manager were the other members of the Northwell core group.
Two teams from Northwell went to Barbados to assist with the pandemic fight and look at the health systems. Northwell also sent two respiratory therapists. The institution paid for all flights.
Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 23 hospitals, more than 830 ambulatory facilities and more than 18,500 affiliated physicians. It looks after more than two million people annually in the New York metro area and beyond, and has 77,000 employees – 16,000-plus nurses and 4,000 employed doctors, including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners.
It offers 100 specialties, has five tertiary and three specialty care facilities in its network and treats more than 300,000 inpatients each year.
Northwell Health is very involved in initiatives outside health directly that improve communities. A feature of its Covid-19 fight was the formation of an 18-member nurses’ choir. The group came to prominence with a run to the finals of America’s Got Talent 2021.
A Family Affair
It was how, more than that it was done, that made the building of a relationship by the Day of Independence Committee of Panamanians in New York Inc. with the Barbados Consulate General and Barbadian community worthy of honouring.
The Committee placed the Barbados connection at the centre of all its activities – and there were a lot of them – and strongly supported every Consulate and community function to which its members were invited.
Led by President Enrique Small, the team is Veronica Wharton Thorpe, Tamara Bell, Angélica Thomas, Dorothy Small, Federico Beaumont, Maria McKenzie, Maria Willlis, Maritza Boyce-Duncan, Oliver Prince Jr., Rosa Rodriguez De Perez, Víctor Marshal and Norayka Castillo.
The Committee, which has been existing for 26 years, runs the largest Panamanian parade in the world outside of the Republic of Panama. This year was the first time there was formalised relationships between Panamanians and Barbadians in New York.
