Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Meet Sonia and Milena
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, two of our employees share more about their Dominican heritage. Sonia Pena, a patient account collection representative at Broward Health Medical Center, and Milena Cedneo-Oblinger, a registered nurse at Broward Health North, share what they love most about the beautiful Caribbean country of the Dominican Republic.     

  • Name and Credentials:
    Sonia Pena, Patient Account Collection Representative, Broward Health Medical Center

  • Length of service at Broward Health:
    Eleven years

  • My heritage is:
    Hispanic

  • I can fluently speak the following languages:
    English and Spanish

  • This year, the theme of Hispanic Heritage Month is “Celebrating Untold Stories and Contributions of Hispanic Americans in Florida”. What is something you love about your Hispanic heritage/culture that you would like to share with Broward Health colleagues?  I am from small island called Dominican Republic and what I love about my culture is the mixture of the cultures of Spaniard colonists, European, African and Taino. The cultural elements are most prominent in the Dominican food, family structure, religion and music. Our cuisine is predominantly made up of a combination of Spanish, French, indigenous Taino and African influences. Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic and is also one of the standard Latin American dances. It is essentially a combination of two dances: the African and French Minuet- Rice is the main staple of the Dominican cuisine. There is a great number of Dominican dishes, but none more common, or important than Arroz Blanco. Most Dominicans consider the family to be the basic element of society. Families are very close, and stay close. It is not unusual to find grandparents living at home, fully integrated in the life of the family. Baseball is the national sport of the Dominican Republic.

  • Who is a Hispanic figure you admire who has contributed to healthcare, society or directly to your life? Sonia Sotomayor, first Hispanic and Latina member of the Supreme Court. Her courage and determination to succeed in life against all odds have taught me that when you put your heart, mind and passion on what you like, you can achieve anything. 
  • What is one interesting fact about your culture’s history? Dominican Republic is the only country to have a Bible on their national flag. 
  • Name and Credentials:
    Milena Cedneo-Oblinger,RN,SCRN,CDP, Memory Disorder Center Coordinator, Broward Health North

  • Length of service at Broward Health: 
    Three years

  • My heritage is: 
    Dominican/American

  • I can fluently speak the following languages: 
    English

  • This year, the theme of Hispanic Heritage Month is “Celebrating Untold Stories and Contributions of Hispanic Americans in Florida”. What is something you love about your Hispanic heritage/culture that you would like to share with Broward Health colleagues? The Dominican culture is full of life and celebration. We celebrate the small things and the big milestones. Any excuse for a celebration! We are a very welcoming people and love to laugh and dance and very family centered.

  • Who is a Hispanic figure you admire who has contributed to healthcare, society or directly to your life? Ellen Ochoa the American Engineer, former astronaut and former director of the Johnson Space Center. 
  • What is one interesting fact about your culture’s history? The Dominican Republic was founded by Christopher Columbus

  • Who or what inspires you, professionally or personally? My family is comprised of entrepreneurs and business minded people. I have taken this experience and applied it to my healthcare career to help people. I love helping people and being a nurse has given me the opportunity to do business in a compassionate role.

  • Why is it important to seek out and value diverse perspectives in healthcare/in general? Our population we care for is diverse. We are not just one kind of people but a colorful array of different beliefs, values and experiences. If we want to care for people we must be considerate of their whole-being and what is most meaningful to them. The best way to provide compassionate care is to understand the other person. We use diversity to make better decisions about how to care for our community.