Team Member Spotlight – Anita Anokye

Meet Anita Anokye!

Anita is a member of our New York team and is a legacy member Supply Chain Specialist.  This group recently rebranded and is now Central Supply.  Anita originally started her career path with the Cure Urgent Care team in 2018 as a Medical Assistant.  She is a graduate of Stony Brook University.  After working with the urgent care team and this group was sold, she was brought onto the Specialty Team in October of 2022.  Anita has grown with this team and she now supports 18 sites.

Anita is no stranger to multi-tasking and tracking.  She is extremely detail-oriented.  Some may ask – How does she do that?  Anita says she asks herself that every day.  Early on, she found support and mentorship from Kayla Moore-Rusinski, Xhulia Agolli, and Dan Sweatman.  She learned reporting and the priorities for each location.  This was no small feat.

When Anita started her career path in healthcare, she was extremely nursing-focused and committed to her nursing prerequisites.  Her start in Urgent Care in NYC coincided with the outbreak of COVID.  Anita was seeing 200 plus patients every day for COVID testing.  Saying it was fast-paced is an understatement.  It was high-volume work with lots of learning on the job.  It required her and others to adapt and to do it quickly.

Her parents wanted her to be a doctor.   Since she describes herself as ‘not a big chemistry person’, becoming a doctor took a back seat.  Anita honed her skills with an eye and interest in the business side of healthcare.  She says, “I didn’t realize all the moving parts” and goes on to say about her experiences and reflecting on the height of COVID, “It made me more compassionate about things; it was very eye-opening with lots of moving parts”.

Anita is driven to learn as much as she can and to continue to grow within Vivo.  She also has set her sights on Nursing School in the future and getting her RN.  Anita’s advice to others is to “be patient, work hard, and don’t drain yourself.  You never know who is watching you and the good things that may come from it.”

Area Clinic Manager, Kayla Rusinski, says, “Anita can be described as many wonderful things, but her dependability is one of her greatest attributes.  She orders buy and bill medications for 18 locations and all the supplies for 14 locations.”  Anita’s co-workers say she is kind, helpful, funny, and knowledgeable.  Anita is counted on to train all new Medical Assistant hires and is the resident subject matter expert on all things lab-related.  Kayla also says of Anita that she “ensures that our patients never miss their appointments due to procurement issues.  Her dedication, attention to detail, and great communication skills are paramount to the contribution of great patient care.”

Some fun facts about Anita:

• She loves to travel but hates airplanes.
• She loves anything outdoors – the beach, hiking, the park, parties – if it is outside, she is there!
• Anita is first generation, and her entire family comes from Ghana.
• She lives in Queens, works in the city, and cares for her mother on Staten Island.

Outside of work, Anita enjoys drawing, writing poetry, listening to music from the ‘60s through the ‘80s, taking walks, and going to events with friends.  She tries to commit an hour each day as a time for herself to rebalance and clear her mind.  She does describe herself with a smile in her voice as a bit of a party girl and an old soul.  Anita works hard – and, as her dad told her years ago, that hard work will get noticed; if you “work hard, they will see it.”

We see you, Anita.  We are so grateful for all you do – for your commitment and abundant energy, and for taking the time to get the details right.