MILESTONE. Denise opened the first emergency clinic created by a Latina. | Photo: YouTube screenshot DrDenise.
In the borough of the Bronx, in New York, a Hispanic doctor makes history and marks the lives of hundreds of young people in her community. Her name is Denise Nuñez, a medical graduate from the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University in the Dominican Republic and specialized in pediatrics and then in intensive care in the United States. This year she was on the list of “The 25 Most Powerful Women” of People en Español.
Born in the United States, Dr. Denise traveled with her parents at age 10 to the Dominican Republic, her grandparents’ nation of origin, to grow up there. However, he was not completely absent from the country, then he returned in order to specialize, approximately in 2001. At that time he started from scratch and worked full time while helping his children “to grow up with education and Latino values.”
Since 2002 she has been in hospital corridors, Denise said in an exclusive interview with Latin Weather. She is currently a pediatric intensivist at Montefiore Children’s Hospital, professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, owner of the Divino Niño Pediatrics PLLC clinic, and founder of the Niño de la Caridad Foundation.
Denise marked a milestone by opening the first urgent care clinic created by a Latina. The Niño de la Caridad Foundation, for its part, began with the help of her daughter, Ana Nuñez, and responded to the need to provide children and young people with tools to prepare them for a university.
The expert said that when she returned to the United States, she was unaware of the process to enter universities, so she began to investigate. He did a study and found that only 25% of young people were finishing high school; and of them only 18% graduated. Thus he discovered that the students did not have counselors or someone to help them, even many of the parents did not speak English, which constituted a barrier when filling out forms or investigating.
So Denise brought together 40 young people in the clinic where she worked, and for a year she helped in the process of preparing them. Of that group, only 12 entered the university and thus began its Fundación Niño de la Caridad, which currently helps more than 4 thousand families
At the Fundación Niño de la Caridad they support parents who need it with food and English classes, help students to do their homework and guide young people in the search for scholarships for university, among other activities.
The Foundation’s program Leaders of the Future even made it to television. Denise took advantage of a proposal to air with the production The LOTF (Leaders of the future) by BronxNet, made by the young people themselves.
These actions have made Denise a benchmark for the Hispanic community in New York and throughout the United States. In Hispanic Heritage Month, it is worth knowing its history and message to the Latino community, which it considered one of the most affected by the pandemic.
Inequalities for Latinos
Dr. Denise explained that the pandemic highlighted the inequalities, poverty, disadvantages and poor health of Latinos. But trust that small changes can make a difference. He said that women have an important role in the community, but they must come together.
He considered that women have a lot of power and ideas, but it is essential to seek support if they do not know how to do something. She recognized that it is not easy to be a woman in the United States, a country dominated by white men and where there are barriers to working with the Latino community.
Message to Hispanics
“We are a community, for me the most beautiful, because we have incredible values; a family value that has no other culture. But we have to fight in a positive way for the community, all together, ”Denise said in a phone call with Latin Weather.
Many communities are united and go far, Denise considered that Latinos lack that. “We have to be models for our children, so that in the future they can shine and be leaders for other generations. Keep fighting with strength, positivity, love and a lot of faith, which is what distinguishes us from the rest, “he added.
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