Leticia Curiel is an amazing nurse who throughout her career, has been committed to advancing health equity. She has always been an advocate for patients whose health needs were not appropriately addressed secondary to discrimination embedded within our healthcare system and has steadfastly tried to bridge these gaps through her nursing practice.  Lety worked 15 years in the Intensive Cardiac Care Unit and transitioned to ambulatory care 3 years ago by becoming a nurse coordinator for the outpatient VAD team.   That transition enabled her to recognize more sharply the disparities that exist in the health care delivery system and she proceeded to utilize her research and leadership skills to address them.

There are many examples that illustrate her commitment, and I will list just a few here. She has worked tirelessly to get her patients the medication they needed even when their insurance would not cover it. Her patient needed expensive medication for his pulmonary hypertension.  She obtained a $10,000 grant to pay for her patient‘s medication, enabling him to breathe better, feel better, and possibly get listed for a heart transplant.

A few of her VAD patients’ insurance did not cover an INR home meter.  This gap in coverage creates critical health disparities since Coumadin therapy needs to be monitored regularly to prevent deadly complications. Lety went searching for ways to fix this and after intensive research found a company that can rent an INR home meter to patients for free and gives them INR meter strips so they can test at home.  Her efforts were life-changing for her patients.

One of her patients who had a VAD was struggling to make ends meet, working full-time while on VAD therapy.  He needed a heart transplant to survive as his VAD pump was not sufficient to sustain him any longer. The transplant program requires patients to stay for 6 weeks with a caregiver post-discharge.  Witnessing her patient’s desperation and disheartened at the inequity of a patient not being able to receive a needed heart transplant because of social and financial barriers, Lety decided to volunteer to be the caregiver.  She underwent a lengthy social evaluation and discussed the case at length with risk management to ensure all was done appropriately and when she received approval, she opened her home and her family to him, so he was able to get his heart transplant.  Not stopping there, she subsequently organized a fundraiser to help pay for the expensive medications and transportation and raised over $15,000.

Last but not least, Lety has also volunteered her time to provide nursing care to migrant children who were arrested at the border and detained in the U.S. Immigration and Detention Centers. By volunteering her time through a non-profit, she not only bore witness to the horrific conditions these children were exposed to but also mitigated their situation by providing them with support and care.

Lety is an unsung hero of the nursing profession.  She consistently and humbly goes above and beyond to ensure her patients are taken care of.  Faced with inequality and adversity she does not despair, does not relent.  She will move heaven and earth to find resources and bridge health disparities that affect the most vulnerable.  

Please recognize Leticia Curiel’s outstanding contribution to the nursing profession and her unwavering commitment to mitigating health disparities.