BY ROXANNE MOSTER
UCLA Today
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao visited UCLA’s
Mattel Children’s Hospital Sept. 18 to meet with the nurses
who have been providing round-the-clock care for the Quiej Álvarez
twins, who were once joined at the head but were successfully
separated last month after 22 hours of surgery.
“The specialty
care given to the two Marias is a wonderful and dramatic example
of how important nurses are to our health-care system,”
Secretary Chao explained. “I hope Americans find inspiration
in the work of these nurses and consider a career of their own
in nursing.”
Secretary Chao’s
campus visit launched her “Call to Care” campaign,
an initiative designed to encourage careers in nursing.
“The nursing shortage in this country is approaching a
crisis level, and research data show that it will only get worse,”
she said. “Nursing is a tremendous way to serve one’s
country and is a profession with almost limitless opportunity
for growth and personal success.”
Gerald Levey, provost
of UCLA Medical Sciences, joined the secretary on her tour of
the hospital’s facilities. “We were pleased to have
Secretary Chao visit us, and appreciate the attention she is
bringing to both the nursing shortage and the value of nurses
like those here at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital,”
he said.
The nursing staff
said they felt gratified with the attention they were receiving.
“I didn’t realize that people in Washington, D.C.,
appreciated the work we do,” said Clarice Marsh, director
of pediatric nursing at the hospital. “I’ve always
been proud to be a nurse, and Secretary Chao made me feel even
more proud today. She’s right — more people should
look at nursing. There is nothing else I would rather be doing
with my life.”
Meanwhile, the twins’
physicians said that the girls may be ready to leave the hospital
for medical care in Guatemala by the end of October. Both remain
in serious but stable condition.
Copyright 2002 UC Regents
Questions / Problems?
| [HOME]
