MIAMI (WSVN) - A South Florida hospital system gave a generous gift to an esteemed member of their nursing staff for all her hard work, and she wasn’t the only local frontline worker being honored this week.
Monica Suarez walked out to a round of applause and some clothes racks at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Thursday morning.
“It was very emotional,” she said.
Suarez, an associate nurse manager at JMH, was gifted a $2,000 shopping spree.
“I was just so thankful. It wasn’t about the clothes or anything like that. It’s the fact that you get recognized,” she said.
The gift comes after a daunting and difficult year on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s been a very trying year,” said Suarez.
JMH joined forces with Neiman Marcus to surprise Suarez.
“After the year we’ve had, we really wanted to partner with Jackson Memorial Hospital,” said Neiman Marcus spokesperson Lauren Johnson.
To make the shopping spree possible, Neiman Marcus teamed up with clothing brand Alice + Olivia.
“Healthcare workers have been keeping everyone going this year, so we just really wanted to thank her for everything she’s done for the community, for the patients,” said Johnson, “and who doesn’t want a new wardrobe of clothes for a thank you?”
At Coral Gables Hospital, more frontline workers recognized.
The custom awards retailer FineAwards.com honored emergency medical technicians in South Florida who have spent the pandemic working to help others.
“I want to thank you all for all of your hard work. We’re here to honor you all,” said a speaker at the ceremony. “This recognition program is intended to let you guys know just how important you are, just how valuable you are, just how loved you are.”
Among the honorees was Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Pete Sanchez.
“I feel humbled; we all feel humbled. We’re honored, but this is definitely a joint, team effort,” he said, “We couldn’t do it without the hospital, without doctors, nurses. This has been every frontline worker working together to try to bring us back to some normalcy.”
Despite the JMH event honoring just one nurse, the hospital’s management wanted to make sure the entire staff knows how appreciative they are of their hard work.
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