By Annette Pinder
Images of the casualties of Covid-19 pandemic will forever be embedded in our minds, as we remember the sacrifices made by individuals on the frontlines who tirelessly battled the virus.
On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, the National Association of Licensed Professional Nurses is kicking off the 75th anniversary of its founding at the M Hotel on Walden at Galleria Drive from 5 to 9 pm. The event will feature over 50 exhibitors, free food and beverage samplings, shopping, a chocolate lounge, photo booth, prize wheel, skin care products, jewelry, apparel, the latest in new cars and technology, and more. Legendary broadcast personality John Murphy, recovering from a stroke, will present his book, If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Buffalo Bills Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box, for which all sales proceeds will be donated to nurses’ charities.
As we honor the health care community, Classic Hits 104.1 will present UnitedHealthcare WNY Healthcare Hero Awards to three exceptional pandemic heroes. The first prize honoree is LCDR Khalifah Glover, BSN, NP; the second is Veronica Hoock, RN; and the third is Kathleen Henninger, MS, RTT.
LCDR Khalifah Glover, BSN, NP is a U.S. Navy Reserves Officer who served as a SICU critical care nurse at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The current Assistant Officer in Charge at the Navy Reserve Center in Buffalo, LCDR Glover served as a critical care nurse in Afghanistan, caring for U.S. troops, coalition combat forces, civilian contractors, the Afghan National Army, and Afghan civilians wounded by crossfire and captured detainees. A critical care nurse for the New York City Navy Medicine Support team during the pandemic, LCDR Glover helped embed teams of highly trained medical providers into seven hospitals, and was an intensive care unit team leader at Bellevue Hospital. In 2022, LCDR Glover became Officer in Charge for Operation Commanding Force, and in 2023 received an Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner degree from Daemen University. She is a critical care nurse at South Buffalo Mercy Hospital and an Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner in the Buffalo VA residency program. Her numerous awards include a Humanitarian Service Medal and Daemen University’s Outstanding Nurse Leader Award, and she was recently inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.
Veronica Hoock, RN is a Cardiovascular ICU Critical Care nurse at Kaleida Health, where she has been employed for the past 37 years in various positions. Hoock has been repeatedly recognized for leadership and relentless advocacy efforts, including Kaleida Health BGH/GVI 2022 Employee of the Year.
Kathleen Henninger, MS, RTT is a Registered Respiratory Therapist and respiratory therapy instructor at SUNY Erie. Henninger worked helping transport critically ill patients at Kenmore Mercy Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital’s Covid-19 facility during the pandemic. She also helps physicians create simulations and medical escape rooms at UB Jacobs School of Medicine.
Join in celebrating all of our healthcare heroes on October 11. Tickets are just $9.50 at www.NursesNightofCelebration.com.
