Dr. Seanna-Kaye Dr. Cyrus McCalla. Gloria Murray. Danica Dorlette.
Jacqueline Cassagnol.
Denham-Wilks.
BQ Caribbean Life, July 5—July 11, 2019 23
combined footprint in our
thriving city of limitless
opportunities.”
Dr. Mathieu Eugene,
the Haitian-born
representative for the
45th Council District in
Brooklyn, said it was “an
honor” to address the
ceremony.
“Somebody’s doing
a wonderful job with
Caribbean Life,” he said.
“Thank you, Victoria, you
bring us all together. Let’s
put our hands together
for Victoria (patrons
reciprocated).
“If you don’t have
(good) health, it does not
mean anything,” added
the City Council’s Health
and Welfare Committee
member. “On behalf of
the honorees, you’re
doing a wonderful job,
especially the nurses.
That’s why, together with
my colleagues, we’re
fighting for fair wages.”
Claudette Powell
— the Jamaican-born
former president of the
Caribbean American
Nurses Association and
past honoree of the
Caribbean American
Health Care Awards —
who served as mistress
of ceremonies — said the
health care professionals
were honored for
their “immeasurable
contributions to the
U.S.”
“Tonight, we will
honor some of the best in
the health care industry,”
she said. “There’s one
common thread: we’re
very proud of our roots.
Tonight, you’ll hear 30
remarkable people.”
Those “remarkable
people” comprised: Amun
Handa, Rose Elizabeth
Arbouet, Gloria Murray,
Jacqueline Cassagnol, Dr.
Seanna-Kaye Denham
Wilks, Tracey Ledeatte,
Dr. Cascya Charlot,
Sherly Demonsthenes-
Atkinson, Kamini Doobay,
Eustecia Herman, Dr.
Cyrus McCalla, Noreen
Peters, Danica Dorlette,
Candace Cummings,
Michelle Smith-Allen,
Pamela Abner, Nurses
Association of Counties of
Long Island and Miranda
Toussaint.
The other were: Dr.
Adesh Randass, Joan
Saint Fleur, Dr. Vilma
Joseph, Chanelle Small,
Audry Radcliffe, Andrew
Campbell, Hulitt (Hope)
Scott, Heather Tucker,
Gladys Williams, Michelle
Joseph, Ann Whyte-
Akinyooye and Jennifer
Trotman.
“I’m sure there are
many, many people who
could have gotten this
award, but am happy
it’s me,” said Guyaneseborn
Murray, a certified
nurse midwife and nurse
practitioner, who owns
Mercy Midwives Women’s
Health Center on Webster
Avenue in the Bronx, to
huge laughter.
In accepting her award,
Dr. Denham-Wilks, the
Jamaican-born patient
care experience officer at
NYC Health + Hospitals/
Kings County, said: “You
can take the girl out of
Jamaica, but you can’t
take the Jamaica out of
the girl.”
Guyanese American
Dr. Doobay, who grew up
in Jamaica, Queens, said
she “truly believes there’s
a divine spark of God in
every human being.
“While New York has
good health care, we
have too much racism,”
added the emergency
medicine resident at NYU
/ Bellvue and founder
and organizer of NYC
Coalition to Dismantle
Racism in the Health
System.
“I will not stop until
black and brown people
have equality,” she
continued to thunderous
applause.
Grenadian Noreen
Peters, a registered nurse
and 1199 SEIU United
Health Care Workers
East at Brookdale
Hospital Medical Center
in Brooklyn, said she
has been working as a
pediatric nurse for 28
years.
“It’s an honor and a
pleasure to be here,” she
said. “As I continue in
my life journey, I hope
I’ll make a difference for
others.”
Danica Dorlette, a
Brooklyn-born registered
professional nurse, of
Haitian and Cuban
parentage, who works at
New York Presbyterian
Hospital at Weill Cornell
Medical Center – said she
was “truly honored to
be here with people who
inspired me.
“I want to thank my
parents who remind me
every day about nursing,”
she said.
Xavier Strings,
comprising the highenergy
sister violinists
Janelle Xavier and Janine
Xavier-Cross, thrilled
patrons with classical,
folklore, soca and calypso
renditions, stringing
out, among others, The
Mighty Sparrow’s “Jean
and Dinah;” Kitchener’s
“Sugar Bum Bum;” and
Calypso Rose’s “Fire,
Fire” and “Going Down
San Fernando.”
Patrons were also
enchanted when
Kittitian-born, Laurelton,
Queens-resident Aieleen
Joseph, 84, using a cane
for walking, sought to
upstage the sisters, as she
danced to the hypnotic
rhythms.
“She does this all
the time,” said Joseph’s
daughter, Brooklyn-born
Dr. Vilma Joseph, an
honoree and Associate
Clinical Professor
of Anesthesiology at
Montefiore Medical
Center/Albert Einstein
College of Medicine in
the Bronx, alluding to
her mother’s love of
dancing.
The gala affair was
sponsored by New York
State Nurses Association;
One Brooklyn Health
System – Brookdale,
Interfaith and Kingsbrook
Jewish Medical Centers;
NYC Health + Hospitals –
Kings County and Coney
Island; and CABS Home
Care.
Tracey Ledeatte.
Dr. Kamini Doobay.
Andrew Campbell and
Jennifer Trotman.
Miranda Toussaint with members of NYS Nurses Association.
Amun Handa.
Nurses Association for
the Counties of Long
Pamela Abner with family and colleagues. Island.