NEW YORK NURSE: July/August 2009
Lolita Compas has been appointed to a two-year term on the New York State Emergency Medical Services Council (SEMSCO) as a representative for the nursing community. The council assists the Department of Health Office of Health Systems Management in providing leadership in developing rules, regulations, and general guidelines for the operation of New York State’s Emergency Medical Services system. Compas is one of 15 representatives selected to serve by the Commissioner of Health and was specifically chosen for her experience and expertise in the field of emergency medical services. Compas, who has been an RN for 41 years, served as NYSNA’s president from 2003-2005 and as LBU chair at Cabrini Medical Center for 23 years. She was instrumental in Cabrini becoming one of NYSNA’s first bargaining units to contractually recognize professional certification in the early 1980s.
Margaret (Peggy) Leonard was recently appointed president of the Case Management Society of America. A senior vice president for clinical services at Hudson Health Plan and the 2006 recipient of the Case Manager of the Year award, Leonard is recognized nationally for her work in case management, certification, transitions of care, models of care, and motivational interviewing. Leonard, who was recognized in 2004 by NYSNA for her outstanding contributions to the protection of the public and advancement of the profession, is a past president of NYSNA District 14 and served on the American Nurses Association (ANA) Task Force on Managed Care. She has been active in the legislative arena with ANA, NYSNA, the National Women’s Political Caucus, and as a politics instructor at the College of New Rochelle.
Ghanwatti Boodram, an operating room nurse at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital Center for the past 16 years, lost her life in a gas explosion that demolished the family’s Floral Park home on April 24. The mother of three young boys, Boodram had returned home from her shift and was preparing to pick up her children from an after-school program. Her husband, Dindial, a certified surgical technologist, was at work at the time of the explosion. While the exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation, Boodram’s neighbor had called Con Edison to report a gas smell. At around 4:50 p.m., neighbors said the tree-lined street shook when a Con Edison worker lifted a manhole cover. The explosion and fire also injured another neighbor, the Con Ed worker, and four firefighters. Dindial Boodram and his sons, aged 7, 9, and 11, are living in temporary housing. An education trust fund has been set up for the boys at Capital One Bank (718-831-5590).
Dorothy Ramsey, a retired associate professor of nursing at Adelphi University and previous recipient of NYSNA Honorary Recognition and Membership awards, celebrated three generations of RNs in her family when her granddaughter, Princess Brooks, graduated this spring from the School of Nursing of Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY. Princess’s father, Stuart Ramsey, is a Community Health Nurse at Village Care of New York, providing care to clients with HIV/AIDS. Her mother, Yvette Brooks, is the school nurse at PS 144 in Queens. Princess plans to pursue a career as an emergency room nurse and to continue her education.