I was sitting at my desk at work just going through some paperwork when my boss came up to me and said, "hey, we have a conference call with the president to just motivate everybody right before October 1." In my head I: "well, this will be pretty straightforward with Trinity's president."
In college, one of the more interesting discussions was the inherent inequality of the healthcare system. It was an exercise in compassion and moral discussion. But, all the talk was words in vacuum without action. Yes, something can be said about intellectual growth and paradigm shifts, but in the case of actual work, I can't say that I was involved in anything. I tried to understand the work to change thoughts on healthcare as a product to a right. The best I could do was to learn and better equip myself with the right motivations and emotions for such work.
We settle in her office. I reflect on the past few days for a bit. I remember the conference at Lansing. What I've learned about the people who changed careers to become patient advocates: the PhD that left the research world to be a community organizer, the single mother that at age 40 decided to become a JD that advocates for patients, and the RN that faced forced retirement only to start an organization to serve her patients. Where do I fit in?
My work as an Enrollment Coordinator has been focused on learning more about the Affordable Care Act (through classes, conferences, and seminars), help patients apply for insurance, and foster partnerships will local organizations to better serve the communities' healthcare needs. It's been a lot of phone calls and sitting at talks. Sometimes I wonder if my work makes a difference. I feel like I'm just, although out of college, learning and figuring out what are the right tools for me to use. It's the same as the past four years.
The conference call starts. I didn't hear the first speaker's introduction. I think she mentioned something about being a secretary. She begins to talk about the ACA and the battles it had to go through before and after it became a law. So in my mind, I thought she was simply the secretary of Trinity's president.
The only change in my function is the fact that I get to work one-on-one with my patients. Easily, the most gratifying and energizing part of my days is just interviewing people to figure out their needs. In reality, medical care is only one part of a person's health. Hearing my patients talk about the compassion of the people they meet here at Mercy Primary Care Center and how it has been a blessing for them reminds me of what real healthcare is meant to be.
The next speaker is Kathleen Sebelius, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. Again, she expresses her excitement over October 1: the Marketplace opening. She talks about the excitement of seeing millions of uninsured Americans finally be eligible or have access to affordable health insurance. I wonder why the Secretary of HHS would be introducing Trinity's president. Then, to my surprise, she introduced President Barack Obama.
The main problem in healthcare is the fact that it is generally paternal and monolithic in nature. It focuses on the proper medical treatment for the proper disease. Patients become numbers. Communication breaks down. Tests are done for the sake of tests being done. Costs skyrocket while patients stagnate. We pathologize health to the point of morphing healthcare into diseasecare. We look for the next sickness. But, the system of a medical home looks at a patient holistically and treats them with dignity. They are not my patients. We are their partners in their health. It is an intimate human endeavor that requires advocacy and compassion and that is what I've learned as I talk to them day-in and day-out.
Suffice it to say, I was shocked to actually hear the president address a nationwide audience of health systems. I was able to listen to his passion for healthcare equity. He spoke of a multi-level effort from the administration to large health systems to health centers to free clinics to reach out to America to teach them about the reform. I realized I was part of a greater system of care: a face to the system. President Obama's passion and gratitude reminded me of this reality.
The biggest part of this experience is learning how to care, how to smile, how to laugh, and how to listen. My role, I've come to conclude, is not just to help patients get the insurance that will help them get care but to remind them, that within the large system at work, there are people that care for them and will advocate for them. The reality is that not all diseases will have a cure. Therefore, our mission should be to care when we can no longer cure. In the end, simply caring is a form of healthcare and that is where I fit in.
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