COVID-19 is exposing deep inequities in health systems worldwide. The Aspen Global Innovators Group spoke with a nurse and midwife addressing health inequities on the front lines, who shared learnings about the expanding role of nurses and midwives in the response to COVID-19. The conversation was moderated by Alice Lin Fabiano, Global Director, Social Innovation and Investment, Global Community Impact, Johnson & Johnson.
Speakers
Marc Julmisse
CNO & COO, Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM)
Marc Julmisse is the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and the Deputy Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM), a 300-bed facility, in Haiti. As the CNO, she is responsible for the Nursing services at HUM, leading a team of 400 staff members. As the Deputy COO, she shares the responsibility for the clinical, financial and operational leadership at HUM, focusing on strategic planning hospital development and capacity building. Prior to joining Zanmi Lasante, Julmisse served as the Medical Education Program Coordinator (2010-2013) and Chief of Party for Adventist Health International-Haiti. She has worked in the nursing profession for more than 15 years as a staff registered nurse in the med-surge, neonatal intensive care, emergency room and intensive care units; a visiting nurse in the foster care system for medically fragile children; a community health nurse; and nurse educator. With almost two decades of experience working in the nursing profession, Julmisse has been a strong voice and force for nurses all over the world, helping to provide health services to those without access. She received her bachelor’s in nursing from Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts, her Master in Public Health, and a certificate in humanitarian assistance from Loma Linda University in California. She has volunteered for several nonprofits, working in several countries, including Nepal, Ecuador, India, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico and Peru, providing clinical care and community training with a focus on community capacity building.
Jennie Joseph
Executive Director, Commonsense Childbirth
Jennie Joseph is the Executive Director of her own non-profit corporation, Commonsense Childbirth Inc., and the founder of the National Perinatal Task Force, a grassroots organization whose mission is the elimination of racial disparities in maternal child health in the USA. A British-trained midwife, Jennie creates access to comprehensive maternity healthcare for all, while fostering safe, respectful, patient-centered care and support for women in areas that she terms ‘materno-toxic zones’. In standing for every woman to have her healthiest possible pregnancy with dignity and respect, she has developed programs, clinics and training for maternity care systems and perinatal practitioners to provide such care, regardless of zip code, race or ethnicity.