South Florida healthcare workers come together to pray for peace and unity

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – In memory of George Floyd and countless others, healthcare workers at all six Memorial Healthcare System hospitals simultaneously held a unity prayer Monday to inspire peace and solidarity in what they call a time of social unrest.

Local religious leaders joined dozens of Memorial Healthcare workers who came together and bowed their heads.

“We come together seeking to summon the spirit that inspires this whole place at Memorial,” said Father Dave Collins, director of spiritual care for Memorial Regional in Hollywood.

The prayer was lives streamed inside for any staff or patients who weren’t able to make it outside to join.

In a separate show of solidarity, staff, faculty and students gathered Monday afternoon at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.

UM health system leaders and the university’s president spoke, and the group took a knee for 8 minutes, 46 seconds to recognize George Floyd.

“The systemic racism, the institutionalized racism that’s baked into our society and baked into medicine needs to change and needs to stop,” said Dr. Kimberly Reynolds, a professor of pediatrics. “And I needed my kids to see this and to know that I’m not stopping at anything until there’s a change in this country and in this world.”