NEW ORLEANS — A New Orleans native is now on the front line in the epicenter of the Coronavirus pandemic, treating COVID patients in New York City.
She is part of team from the 804th Army Medical Brigade now embedded with the staff at Queens Hospital, a hotspot for Coronavirus patients.
“It just brings tears to my eyes,” Col. Suzanna Jamison said. “These are people’s wives and husbands and children and loved ones and there are some people that can’t afford to bury their family members even. It’s just really devastating.”
Jamison is a doctor, specializing in both internal medicine and psychiatry in Roanoke, Virginia.
She also spent the last 35 years in the Army Reserve, treating patients in combat zones in places like Iraq and Kosovo.
Jamison and her colleagues are now working side-by-side with the staff at Queens Hospital, fighting an invisible enemy called COVID-19.
“It caught the world by surprise and it’s been very devastating, but I’ve really been amazed at how quickly we’ve been able to respond to it,” Jamison said.
Dr. Jamison is from New Orleans.
She went to high school at Sacred Heart Academy and graduated from LSU Medical School.
You may know her father, former New Orleans District Attorney Harry Connick Senior and her brother, actor/entertainer Harry Connick Junior.
“She’s a unique individual and a very giving one and very loving, just extremely proud of her,” her father said. “She’s very committed and the patients are first.”
A few years ago, Jamison made a surprise appearance on her brother’s talk show.
“I’m incredibly proud,” Harry Connick Junior told his audience in 2016. “You’ve been the most incredible big sister and you’re a great hero of mine. You’re a hero of my three daughters. You’re one in a billion”
“She and Harry both are doing something that I think benefits us, mankind,” Harry Connick Senior said. “He as an entertainer and she with her medicine.”
Jamison says growing up, they were always taught, it is harder to do right thing than the wrong thing and if you accept that, you’ll know the path you have to take.
“It’s been my upbringing and family influence that has given me the drive to succeed,” Jamison said. “My mother used to say, if you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.”
Jamison missed her father’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. Instead of traveling to New Orleans as she planned, she was on a plane heading to New York City.
Her father quickly forgave her, saying there will be plenty of time to get together when his daughter completes her latest mission at Queens Hospital.
“I said look, I understand that’s something that you have to do, so I’ll be here when you’re ready,” Connick said.
From the Big Apple to the Big Easy, COVID is taking a toll and Jamison feels for her hometown.
“COVID-19 is a scary thing and it’s really hit people hard in New Orleans and they’re in my thoughts and in my prayers,” Jamison said.
Jamison says she not sure how long her deployment will last, but she’s prepared to stay in New York City as long as she’s needed.
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