Orange County D.O.H. Spotlights GHMC Nurses for Black History Month

As part of Black History Month, the Orange County Department of Health spotlighted four Garnet Health Medical Center Nurses to show off some of their accomplishments in keeping the residents of Orange County safe!

Magalie “Maggie” Jean-Francois, RN, BSN, CNN, Hemodialysis Unit Manager 
Garnet Health Medical Center

Maggie manages the Hemodialysis Unit at Garnet Health Medical Center, providing inpatient hemodialysis treatments and education to our renal patients.  She also serves as the Nurse Leader Advisor for the Community Health Committee which is currently building the Food Farmacy program for food insecure inpatients. The program will provide three days of food to patients being discharged and who are food insecure. The Community Committee is also collaborating with Orange County Department of Health and other community stakeholders in reaching out to our highest risk population as well as other community members on STI’s awareness and resources. I’m proud to be among the Garnet Health staff and community leaders who are committed to addressing the community social determinants of health.

Maggie has over 18 years of nursing experience and is currently in obtaining her Masters in Public Health Nursing. “I will continue my passion of working closely with the community that I serve,” says Maggie.

Nicole Sewell, MSN, RN, CMSRN, NE-BC, Interim Chief Nursing Officer/Vice President Patient Care Services
Garnet Health Medical Center 

Nicole is the Interim CNO at Garnet Health Medical Center. As the CNO, she focuses on both nursing leadership and organizational administration. A CNO’s responsibilities are typically related to setting patient care standards, establishing processes and protocols for achieving those standards, and managing the work of nurses who care for patients. She has been in the nursing profession for more than 35 years and worked in various roles at the bedside and management. “I am most proud that I work in the community where I was born and raised and have strong roots here,” says Nicole. Her passion is helping our community and those in need. Nicole participates in coordination of food drives and supports all initiatives involving the social determinants of health. 

At Garnet Health, we developed a system in which our food insecure patients are properly screened during admission intake process and are identified early so that we may provide a list of food resources once they are discharged.  Additionally, we received a grant that sponsored some of our nurses to educate their colleagues on the importance of food insecurity. This led to a few who were selected to participate in a national poster presentation and conference in Florida. 

“I am proud to lead within an organization that understands the need to address other community concerns. We deliver quality healthcare but we do so much more,” states Nicole. The Food Farmacy program is an interdisciplinary project aimed at helping patients discharged from the hospital receive the resources they need to live a better life.

Teresa Bryant, RN, BSN, Administrative Director of Nursing
Garnet Health Medical Center 

Teresa provides staff supervision to ensure effective overall operations of the nursing department as well as compliance with the established standards of care. She works to problem solve at the administrative level in conjunction with hospital administration. She stands ready to respond to hospital emergencies while overseeing patient care delivery, staffing and processes. 

Teresa has many achievements to be proud of.  

Candidate for 1199s Nurse Leader at Garnet Health, January 2023

Worldwide Leaders in Healthcare: Top Nurse in Oneonta, NY, March 2015

• Certificate of Excellence for Commitment to the Bassett Mentoring Program, March 2015
• Service Quality Academy Awards: Service Artist to Watch Award, February 2015
• Community Service Leader Award, May 2012
• Student of the Year Award for Associate’s Degree, April 2012 
• State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, March 2012

Lashay Houston BSN, RN, CMSRN, Administrative Director of Nursing 
Garnet Health Medical Center 

Lashay has oversight of patient flow, nursing care, and staffing.  She received her TNCC and TCAR certifications during her 5year stretch at Garnet Health as a critical care nurse before being promoted to leadership in 2021. Lashay obtained her Bachelor’s degree in 2018 and is currently working on her Master’s degree. She has a goal of soon obtaining a Doctorate in Nursing. Leadership and community involvement have proven to be a passion of hers as she strives to help improve her community by staying involved. Lashay has been a nursing clinical instructor at SUNY Orange for the past 2 years teaching new nurses proper clinical application in an ICU setting. In her free time, Lashay is an assistant varsity cheerleading coach at Middletown High School. Something she’s enjoyed for the last 5 years.  Her goal is to be an example to other young African American woman while advancing in her career.