Jamaican-American businesswoman and philanthropist Beverly Nichols has gifted 74 frontline healthcare workers in Jamaica with US $25,000 dollars for their personal use.
Nicholas made the donation through her Push Start Foundation on February 12.
The New York resident explained that she was inspired to help Jamaican frontline workers after observing how corporate America showed their appreciation to frontline workers.
“New York was the epicentre at that time and corporate America showered doctors, nurses, ancillary workers with gifts and cash. I immediately felt overcome with jealousy and wondered who would step up and do something similar for the team of workers in my country’s health sector,” she says, adding, “I decided to do something.”
The cash gift could not have come at a more appropriate time. Since the start of February, doctors across the island have been raising concerns about inconsistent payments of their daily COVID-19 stipends.
Last week, several doctors at the Annotto Bay Hospital in St. Mary threatened to cease caring for COVID-19 patients if they did not receive the incentives, which have been owed to them for a year. The doctors who work on COVID-19 wards are entitled to this $3,000 JMD (USD $20) payment, but some say they have not received any money from the government.
Now that 74 health care workers have received the cash gift, Nichols says she invites others who are in a better position than her, to do something similar.
Beverly Nichols owns and operates Beverly’s Home Health Care, which covers the five boroughs of New York City. Over the past 30 years, she has assisted Jamaican students through the provision of scholarships and bursaries, as well as funds for various health missions to the island.
In 2018, the Clarendon native made a donation of US 1 million for major expansion of the Chapelton Community Hospital in Clarendon. That same year, she was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government for outstanding contribution to the Jamaican Diaspora in New York.
