Cora Reyes honored on Nurses Week by Gov. Cuomo

Cora receiving the proclamation certificate from Gov. Cuomo’s Manhattan Regional Representative Aries dela Cruz. Cultural Officer Olive Magpile of the Philippine Consulate is at right. The FilAm Photos

Cora receiving the proclamation certificate from Gov. Cuomo’s Manhattan Regional Representative Aries dela Cruz. Cultural Officer Olive Magpile of the Philippine Consulate is at right. The FilAm Photos

By Cristina DC Pastor

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has issued a proclamation making May 6-12, 2018 as Nurses Week and honoring New York State’s nurses who are the “leading advocates of public health.”

The proclamation certificate was awarded to Cora Reyes, a staff nurse at JPMorgan Chase for 36 years, on May 9. Cuomo’s Manhattan Regional Representative Aries dela Cruz awarded the certificate to Reyes.

“Gov. Cuomo appreciates the commitment of the men and women of New York State. I am here to commend Cora Reyes for her professionalism and long-term commitment to keeping New Yorkers who work out of JPMorgan Chase very healthy,” said Dela Cruz during a simple ceremony at JPMorgan Chase’s Health & Wellness Center on Park Avenue, witnessed by Reyes’ supervisors and co-workers.

“Nurses are highly trained professionals,” continued Dela Cruz. “They play a vital role in our health care system. They give selflessly of their time and their talents and they offer empathy, understanding, advocacy, and comfort to patients while using knowledge and skills to deliver exceptional medical care. Nurses like Cora are devoted professionals and make a difference in the quality of our lives.”

Cultural Officer Olive Magpile of the Philippine Consulate was also in attendance, together with some Asian American community leaders commemorating Asia Pacific American Heritage Month.

Reyes’ response was emotional and also showed the humorous side of her.

She recounted how in her family, the 10 children were “assigned” their professions by their father, Cesar Aquino Cajucom, a landowning onion farmer.

Short and simple ceremony at the JPMorgan Chase Wellness Center attended by Cora’s supervisors, co-workers, and Asian American community advocates.

Short and simple ceremony at the JPMorgan Chase Wellness Center attended by Cora’s supervisors, co-workers, and Asian American community advocates.

“My father told me since I was 3 years old to become a nurse. She’s going to be a nurse, my father told everyone,” she said. “That has been inculcated in my mind. In my family you do not say what you are going to be. You are assigned what you are going to be. I have accountants in my family, a teacher, architects, engineers, a priest, a fashion designer. Everybody had to have their own career, and they were assigned.”

Cora became the nurse because her two sisters were squeamish about blood and averse to working with cadavers.

Actually, said Cora, she has been a nurse all of 54 years. As a Graduate Nurse, a job was waiting for her at Singian Clinic in Manila. When she came to NYC, she immediately found nursing positions at Jewish Memorial Hospital and at St. Elizabeth of St. Clare’s Hospital where she worked for 11 years. Like some Filipino nurses, Cora at the time juggled two jobs.

She recalled how she had wanted to be a nun because she went to Catholic school. Her other ambition was to be a nutritionist “because I really love to eat.”

Susan Ware, the executive director and manager of Clinical Nursing Health Services at JPMorgan Chase, said Cora, with a record 36 years employment, is one of the longest-serving employees. “We’re happy to know that she enjoyed working with us,” she said.

Kenneth Lankin MD, the executive director and associate medical director of Health Services, said everyone at JPMorgan Chase “know and love Cora.”

“Cora has served our employees for so many years and with great distinction. She always maintains a calm, profession demeanor, even during the toughest times. She has a wonderful sense of humor and also maintains a deep sense of compassion. We are so fortunate to have Cora within our midst,” he said.

Cora thanked her father for being the driving force behind her career. She said, “I have never regretted being a nurse.”

The FilAm magazine played a small role in this recognition. When the article “Corporate nurse Cora Reyes: A community girl at heart” was published on May 6, the office of Gov. Cuomo saw the article reposted by GMA News. Aries dela Cruz contacted Cora Reyes. In three days, a proclamation certificate was issued in her honor.

(C) The FilAm 2018

‘I never regretted being a nurse.’

‘I never regretted being a nurse.’



Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: