BCHS Celebrates Black History Month 2022

Muriel Yankey is a Registered Nurse at BCHS and grew up here in Brantford. She was used to being the only Black student in her class until she moved to more-diverse Toronto to pursue her BScN at York University. She did her co-op at BCHS, and knew that this was where she wanted to start her career. She’s now been a nurse here for 5 years, on the B8 Medical floor.

To Muriel, Black History Month means everything. It’s about expressing and celebrating culture, educating other people on the historical and present issues faced by the Black community, and making sure that people understand the power of language.

Her advice for Black youth pursuing a career in healthcare is to just go for it. Don’t let anyone stop you! There might be people trying to drag you down, but there are even more people cheering you on as you pursue your goals. Especially in communities like Brantford that are growing in size and diversity – it’s so valuable to see representation in the healthcare workforce.

In her words: “If I were a patient, I would want to have a healthcare worker who is my colour caring for me and advocating for me. In order to get there, it’s important to address racism in the healthcare system. Not only in the way that patients are treated, but also healthcare workers. Black healthcare workers need to know that they are supported, and the public needs education on how to provide that support. This will improve outcomes for everyone.”

Watching her mother work as a nurse and experiencing her grandmother’s time in a hospital is what inspired Sandra Nimusiima-Kikulwe to become a healthcare worker. She moved to Canada from Uganda over 25 years ago. She studied social work at the University of Regina and began working as a social worker at BCHS in 2020. In her role she serves patients and families in the medical inpatient units, the surgical unit, labour & delivery, NICU, and day surgery with “the most amazing team.”

The opportunity to provide patient-centred care is her favourite part of the job, particularly supporting her patients through isolation throughout the pandemic. Even with all the challenges that come with working at a hospital, Sandra looks forward to waking up and coming into work every day. She also particularly appreciates that she can be a support and a safe place for patients of colour at BCHS. In her experience, her Black patients feel freer and more open with her because of the representation she carries. She is filled with joy when she sees Black youth aspiring to get into the healthcare field, following their passion to save lives.

“Black History Month is a time to understand the Black struggles, and the things that we have been through, and also an opportunity to celebrate the resilience of our Blackness. How do we change the narrative? How do we make things better for our future generation? Let us all be activists. Let us use our privilege to help those who are marginalized, give them a voice, and give them hope for the future. Black History Month means working towards a more inclusive and diverse Canada, a world in which everyone has the opportunity to contribute to the future.”

After emigrating from Zimbabwe to Canada in 2001, Florence Chemhazo started her career as a healthcare worker, first as a PSW and now as an RN. She’s worked at BCHS since 2010, for the last seven years in Central Resource which takes her all over the hospital. She intends to spend her entire career at Brantford General, crediting her team for making it such a wonderful place to work.

Along with the many things that she enjoys about her work, Florence also shares some of the difficulties that she experiences being a Black healthcare worker. She shared that as a Black woman, as much as she may have the same knowledge and training as her colleagues this is not always seen. As a result she finds she has to work three times as hard in order for others to have the same level of confidence in her abilities. Florence believes there is benefit in creating safe spaces for other Black and visible-minority healthcare workers to share their experience and their strategies, supporting each other and helping to strengthen the community.

“Black history month is very special. It’s special to be a Black woman every single day, but this month makes it even more special. When I think of Black history month, I always think of the struggles my ancestors had to go through, but I also celebrate the achievements, the innovation, the courage, the resilience. I celebrate culture, and I celebrate success. Even as we still go on with the struggle, I know one day we’re going to be successful.”

Dr.  Abayomi “Yomi” Ajayi has been working as an intensivist and respirologist at BCHS for over ten years. He has been the Head of Service/Medical Director of Critical Care for the last seven years.

Born in England to Nigerian parents, he attended university in Nigeria before moving to the United States then finally settling in Canada. He lived in a few different provinces, starting in British Columbia, then Nova Scotia, before settling in Ontario.

As a young man, Dr. Ajayi visited his unwell father in the hospital, and noticed that there were some Black nurses like his mother, but no Black doctors – and the rest, as he says, is history. That was his key inspiration for his decision to become a physician. He noted that at that time, he didn’t know how many different opportunities there were in healthcare. Culturally there is a focus on specific approved professions such as doctor, lawyer or engineer. He spoke about the importance of the many other professions specifically in health including accounting, maintenance, environmental services, and more. He noted that all of these groups are vital parts of the overall team, and especially that without the exceptional people on our maintenance and ESA teams, he doesn’t see how we could have made it this far through the pandemic.

Drawing on his own experiences as an immigrant, a Black man and a physician, Dr. Ajayi seeks to treat every patient and care partner he encounters with fairness and sensitivity. Everyone comes from a different context with diverse cultural needs and understanding of the healthcare system. That is what Black History Month means to him; a celebration of the diversity of experience and culture that has led everyone to where they are right now. He encourages everyone to make extra effort to truly listen to the needs of their peers, patients, and community members, not just hearing their words but seeking to understand. “We hear, but we don’t listen. If we don’t listen to what people are saying, then nothing else really matters, and there will be no change.”