BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — On Thursday, Kaleida Health took part in the nationwide 'Walkout for Black Lives' on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
“And as black women in medicine, it’s a wonderful thing to see," former pediatric nurse practitioner for Kaleida Health Jan Robinson said.
“And I think it just shows how much the whole system, the whole community, is behind what has happened over the last couple of weeks,” gynecoligist at Kaleida Health Gil Farkash said.
For eight minutes and 26 seconds each participant stood in silence.
“It seemed like a lifetime," SEIU 1199 Vice Chair Charles Williams said. "So I can image what George Floyd was going through. The pain that he suffered in that 8 minutes and 46 seconds."
Farkash said he was not surprised that so many healthcare workers participated in the walk in.
“I mean these are people that we work with. It's our community. It’s the hospital employees. The patients I take care of. We have to be aware and do our best to try to get rid of some of these injustices that exists.”
And Williams says these injustice extend beyond the streets of Buffalo, into work places and even our health care systems.
“Which is why when we talk about COVID-19 today we have underlying conditions as black and brown people because we haven’t been able to afford the health care that has been privileged to other people," he said. "So, its important that the hospitals speak out about it because we need that equal opportunity for all."
Jan Robinson and Evelyn Jackson of Kaleida Health say they hope these protests spark change for black Americans.
“As a black mother. Lets hope that our black men and women can be safer,” Robinson said.
