Immigrants Get the Job Done! How Immigrant Medical Professionals Are Helping To Fight The Coronavirus

Despite all the sadness surrounding the devastation left by the pandemic, we are hearing inspiring stories of grit, courage, and commitment.   Mariza Penalosa for NPR reports that hospitals are “scrambling to keep enough medical staff in place to deal with the surges of patients. Experts say immigrants are helping to fill this need and could play a bigger role if some of the obstacles they face are removed — from long and costly licensing processes to acceptance and even respect.

For the past three years, 33-year-old Jossania Dutra has been working as a nurse assistant at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She trained as a registered nurse in her native Brazil and came to the United States five years ago to reunite with her mother.”

KJ