Michael Weeks, the Shadow Minister of Health, delivered profound personal thanks to healthcare professionals for this year’s celebration of Nurses Day.

The Pembroke East Central MP told The Royal Gazette he had “just collapsed for no reason” while out with his wife about a month ago.

Mr Weeks got a battery of tests at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and is waiting on the results of an extensive exam from Johns Hopkins Hospital.

At a gathering yesterday on the steps of City Hall, Mr Weeks gave health workers, and nurses in particular, his profound thanks for “exceptional” care home and abroad.

“The attentiveness, the fortitude and consistency of effort given by these individuals was something to behold,” he said, singling out the Bermuda staff.

“They made me feel comfortable despite my ailment. I must take a moment to salute all those nurses who attended to me and to tell them that their hard work did not go unnoticed.”

Jeanne Atherden, the Minister of Health, also took to the podium to deliver the official Nurses Day proclamation saying: “The Bermuda Nurses Association, as the voice of the registered nurses of this country, and the Ministry of Health, continue to work together to chart a new course for a healthy nation that relies on increased delivery of high-quality evidence-based primary and preventive healthcare.”

Reminding nurses that their passion remained key to the success of their profession, Chief Nurses Officer for the Department of Health Gaynell Hayward-Caesar added: “Happy Nurses Month. You are the winds beneath the wings of our healthcare system. You rock — you are it!”

The National Nurses Day proclamation event was hosted by Beverley Howell, who was this month named Nurse of the Year 2016.