Cheryl Celestine likes going to the new Maimonides Doctors Nostrand Avenue Multispecialty Center in part because it’s only a quick bus ride away and a convenient choice for her health care.
But that’s not the only reason she’s a patient. Celestine, a Trinidadian immigrant, appreciates that she shares a cultural tie with Dr. Cary Daniel, a Haitian-born physician at the Flatbush, Brooklyn, care center.
“You feel a little more confident in having your doctor be someone from the Caribbean; it’s easy for you to speak with him,” said Celestine, who has been a patient of the center for 12 years.
In April, the center expanded its services to transform into a “one-stop shop,” offering specialties such as urology, cardiology, rheumatology services, blood tests, and EKGs.
“We need the population to have access to health care because if we’re talking about the risk factors, why high blood pressure is so high in the black population, one of them is access to medical facilities,” Daniel, the hospital’s community clinic attending physician, told Documented.
Hypertension is diagnosed more often among Caribbean-born New Yorkers, at 36% of the population, than among immigrants as a whole or U.S.-born New Yorkers, according to a 2025 study from the New York City Department of Health.
“The way to deal with this problem really is to start prevention early,” said Daniel, adding that issues with high blood pressure in the community can appear as early as 10 years old. “This clinic, being at the center of East Flatbush, is vital when it comes to dealing with high blood pressure in that population.”
Daniel explained that while the center has been around for more than 20 years, it operated mostly as a primary care center (think of where you go for an annual physical, or to get medical clearance for a surgery). With the introduction of several specialty services, barriers to care are reduced and patients no longer need to travel outside the neighborhood for such services, benefiting the predominantly Caribbean population. (Maimonides is in the midst of an acquisition by the city’s public hospital system, though it is currently delayed by ongoing legal issues.)
“A center that provides a one-stop shopping health care solution is very welcome because it means that hopefully, based on the description, that this center could allow people to see multiple providers on the same day or at the same time,” said Dr. Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky, a professor in the Health and Nutrition Sciences department at Brooklyn College.
Horlyck-Romanovsky said that through her studies of health disparities among Caribbean immigrant communities, having time to take care of health issues is often a challenge, along with other socioeconomic issues. Many have shared that they simply can’t afford to deal with illness, she said.
“People are living under extreme stress to succeed and support lots of people here and back home,” Horlyck-Romanovsky said.
Proximity isn’t the only thing dismantling systemic barriers. Maimonides has beefed up staff by hiring more medical assistants and another primary care physician at the center. Daniel said patients can now also book appointments within seven to eight days, and extended care hours are available on select days for patients wishing to see him. The center also now opens at 8:30 a.m., about 30 minutes earlier than it used to, so patients can be processed faster, reducing wait times to see a doctor.
“We’re making the effort not only to start on time but to cut the amount of time that you’re waiting to see the patient on a timely basis to increase the satisfaction,” Daniel said.
Trust in the medical system is also part of that satisfaction, he said, pointing to the lack of trust in the Black community toward the health care industry as a large part of the structural issues that can impact care for Caribbean patients.
Despite this hurdle, Daniel has his own strategy for getting around it.
“I like to tell them that they are part of the treatment – they also have to understand that we are a team,” Daniel said. “Once we get to that level, they open up to me more, and I’m able to provide a better service.”
Extending care beyond the center, Daniel and Maimonides hope to continue outreach in other Brooklyn Caribbean neighborhoods, in schools, churches, and local health fairs.
“We’re trying to reach the population,” said Daniel, “and let them know that we’re here.”
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