NY hospital names PH-born nurse to executive post

St. John’s Episcopal Hospital executive Hermelina Zabala looks back at her 30-year nursing career in Far Rockaway, New York. (SJEH)

St. John’s Episcopal Hospital last March named Philippines-born Hermelina “Lin” Zabala Chief Nursing Officer and Senior Vice President of patient care services after her 30 years of service to the institution.

St. John’s was the only hospital serving the densely populated and medically underserved populations of the Rockaways, New York at the height of the Covid pandemic, when refrigerated trailers had to be parked outside the hospital because the morgue was filled to capacity.

Zabala said, “Everyone (at the hospital) deserves to be recognized and toasted for all their expertise, their hard work and dedication to the patients and their families.”

In 1988 Zabala answered a St. John’s recruitment brochure in the Philippines. She left her family and friends to take a chance at establishing a life in the United States. The hospital arranged for her to live with a family in the Rockaways for six months while she adjusted to her new life.

“As a young sheltered immigrant growing [up] in a strict Catholic environment I found that the community of Far Rockaway has a lot of potential to grow and I saw that as I stayed at St. John’s all these years,” Zabala said. “I learned to embrace the community. It made me grow as a person and as a nurse.’

During her three decades at St. John’s, Zabala has held various roles including staff nurse, nurse educator, nurse manager and associate director of nursing. She brings all of that experience to her executive position now.

“I have been welcomed by my peers. I’m learning about each of the other services that I currently lead.”