Care Coordinators
Supporting Patients & Connecting Help to Need
Read on to see how care coordinators and social workers work in tandem with the Blessing Foundation to improve patients’ lives
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Every day, Blessing staff members encounter patients facing major medical and financial hurdles.
Donations to the Blessing Foundation allow them to offer help that truly makes a difference.
Janet McKay says she has the best job in the world.
“Every day, I get the chance to make an impact on someone’s life and give someone hope … when they have nowhere else to turn,” she says.
Janet McKay
As Blessing Health System’s Care Navigator, McKay responds when a Blessing provider or staff member identifies a patient whose financial struggles are making it nearly impossible to recover from a medical crisis or to control a chronic health issue.
“They have no other resource and they’re falling through the cracks,” says McKay, an LPN. “I try to meet with them that day … the help is immediate.”
McKay, along with Blessing’s care coordinators and social workers, couldn’t offer struggling patients and their families hope without generous donations to the Blessing Foundation – with 100% of gifts going straight to the need.
“You can be a hope giver with your gift to the Foundation,” she says. “You can feel confident that the Foundation is a good steward of your gift. You can work with us together and make an impact in our community and on someone’s life.”
Blessing Foundation donors make a profound difference
Leslie Henry
Leslie Henry has witnessed the impact of Blessing Foundation donations on numerous occasions. She is a social services caseworker based at Illini Community Hospital in Pittsfield, which is part of Blessing Health System.
She vividly remembers a patient with cancer who had to make an agonizing decision of how to proceed when his current treatment wasn’t working. He could consult with one more specialist in St. Louis or choose to be done with treatment altogether. Unfortunately, at the same time, his COBRA insurance was about to expire. With no way to pay for the insurance, he felt the decision was taken out of his hands.
The Foundation made the COBRA payment, allowing him to regain control of his treatment options.
On another occasion, Henry sought Foundation help for a dying cancer patient with three children whose hot water heater stopped working. Not only did the installation of a new water heater allow him to take warm baths to cope with his pain, but it gave him peace of mind that his family wouldn’t be burdened with a cost they couldn’t afford.
“He was about to go on hospice, and this allowed him to not worry about his family,” Henry says.
Connecting the Dots: ‘They need something immediately’
The Blessing Foundation has been connecting the dots between health care and real life for more than 30 years, quietly and behind the scenes.
Sometimes, the help literally saves a life. Often, it’s a one-time gift of kindness – a $40 gas card, a $100 prescription, a $235 utility payment – that goes a long way to ease the stress of a health care journey that’s challenging physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially.
“People expect when they come to Blessing that they’ll have skilled doctors and nurses and the best technology. What they don’t expect is a health system that goes above and beyond to be kind … and that’s where the Foundation comes in,” says Ann Dickson, the Foundation’s long-time administrative director.
“The Blessing Foundation’s process is to be able to respond immediately,” she says. “Because most of the time, the cases are in front of a care coordinator and they need the medicine now, they need the cash now, they need something immediately, and that’s how we tend to operate, very quickly.”
Medication and Medical Supplies
Durable Medical Equipment
such as oxygen & walkers
Gas Cards
Rent & Utilities
Air Conditioners, Mattresses, and other necessities vital to their health
The Foundation steps in when all other community resources have been exhausted, providing hope when patients need it the most.
A medical crisis ‘can happen to any of us’
Blessing staff members identify patient needs every day across the Health System.
“It can happen to any of us,” McKay says, referring to a medical crisis or financial setback. “In a blink of an eye, our lives can change. Your life has stopped for a moment and you’re stuck and it’s overwhelming.”
A few examples:
• A metastatic cancer patient couldn’t get his pain medication refilled because he’d already met Medicaid’s monthly prescription limit. The Foundation paid for the refill, providing much-needed comfort.
• A patient stopped going to church because she couldn’t afford treatment for a health issue that was easily treatable. The Foundation provided about $200, and she got her life back.
• A family moving to a new apartment after living in a bug-infested space couldn’t afford an exterminator to treat their belongings. Foundation money ensured they were in a safe environment.
• A child in the emergency room had to be airlifted to a hospital for more specialized care. The Foundation offered a gas card to the parents, so they could drive to be with the child in a scary situation.
• A woman on a fixed income had gone without health insurance for years. During a hospital stay, staff learned she was eligible for Medicaid but couldn’t pay for the birth certificate required for the application. A $15 Foundation grant allowed the woman to finally get the coverage and medical care she needed.
“It’s meeting a need at a critical point in someone’s care,” Henry says.
“The caring spirit with which Ann Dickson, Suzi Briscoe, and Pam Frericks at the Foundation meet these requests is inspiring. They approach each request with the utmost concern and authenticity. It is obvious they want the very best for our patients.”
Helping others benefits our community
Blessing Foundation grants aren’t a handout, they’re a hand up. Recipients are so grateful that they’re nearly speechless. Once they’re back on their feet, some want to pay the generosity forward.
“Ultimately, it benefits our whole community,” McKay says. “When we identify an individual that needs help, reducing their stress lifts a burden on the whole family. And because they can go to work and they require less assistance, it also lifts a burden off the community.”
McKay recalls an unemployed patient who after being helped by the Foundation was able to go back to school and get a job. She now works in a supervisory role – “all because the Foundation helped her when she was down.”
Similarly, a young, single mom with no extended family had back-to-back surgeries and was unable to work. She couldn’t pay rent and worried that she and her kids would be homeless. The Foundation paid the rent and averted a crisis. This woman, too, is back to work and contributing to the community.
“They needed a little help for a short time,” McKay says. “They’re able to give back now because they were so blessed by the Foundation.”
Please consider a gift to the Blessing Foundation today. You can help us continue connecting the dots for patients and families in need.
You can help us change lives.
What is the Blessing Foundation?
Since 1983, the Blessing Foundation has been giving back to the community that has given so much to all of us. The charitable foundation distribute grants, scholarships and financial assistance to individuals and families to help them on their healthcare journeys.
For more information about the Blessing Foundation or to discuss a donation or gift, call (217) 223-8400, ext. 4800, or email us at BlessingFoundation@blessinghealth.org
