BELIZE CITY, Wed. Sept. 29, 2021– On Monday, the medical community lost a highly respected and dedicated healthcare professional to the COVID-19 pandemic. The much-loved Mrs. Bernadette Smith Flowers, affectionately known as “Miss. Nurse”, a long-time nurse and medical caretaker for Double Head Cabbage and the wider community in the Belize River Valley area, is the first nurse to die as a result of the Covid-19 virus.

Flowers, who provided 32 years of nursing services to the Belizean community and who exited retirement after the onset of the pandemic, passed away at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital while being treated. She was honored with the “The Nightingale Tribute” by the Nurses and Midwives Council of Belize, in recognition of her years of service.

Nurse Flowers was the first rural health nurse in Belize and at the Double Head Cabbage Village Health Center, where she served for 32 years, from December 1989 until her passing on September 27, 2021. She was part of the Maternal and Child Health Program inside the Ministry of Health and Wellness and played a pivotal role in the delivery of almost all residents of the Belize Rural North area, who are now between the ages of 20 and 30, according to former Belize Rural North area representative Edmond Castro.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the already retired nurse took to the frontlines with her colleagues and participated in the necessary training to be equipped to deliver care to patients during the pandemic.

In a Facebook post, her nephew, Benjamin Flowers, remembered her as a woman of steel and discipline — always ready to answer the call of duty, no matter how challenging the circumstances, but always present, tender, and dedicated to her family.

Nurse Flowers will be deeply missed by her family, friends, colleagues, and patients. We at AMANDALA express our deepest condolences and thank “Miss Nurse” for her years of selfless service.