BATON ROUGE - Gwendolyn Miller, one of the first Black nurses to work at Baton Rouge General, passed away last week at 90 years old.Miller was part of a group of trailblazing nurses who worked on 4-South, the only floor at the time designated for Black patients and staff.The nurses worked with hand -me-down equipment passed down from other floors. "We worked with what we had. We had equipment that was not new. We got the hand-me-downs from other floors, but thank God that we were able to help it and give our patients the very best of care," Miller said.Baton Rouge General honored Miller and the other nurses with a plaque that still hangs in the hospital.Miller also broke another barrier during her time there. Black staff were not allowed to eat in the hospital cafeteria and had to receive their food through a window.Miller decided one day to walk into the cafeteria and eat alongside her white coworkers."Because she did that, nobody really said anything about it. Nobody stopped her. In fact, they tore the wall down and now everybody, no matter what race, was able to eat in the same cafeteria," her grandson Kylan Borskey said.Earlier this year, nursing students from Southern University met with Miller and honored her for the path she helped pave.Borskey said his grandmother's impact reached far beyond their family."Tons of black kids all around and even business owners, entrepreneurs, nurses, whatever field anybody's in. I know that she had an impact on other people and that she was an example to young nurses, people coming through school," Borskey said.He described Miller as his closest relative outside of his parents."She made it to 90 years old. And honestly, outside of my parents, she was my closest family member, my closest relative," Borskey said.Permalink| Comments ...read more read less