June 2017
Anne
Woodrow
,
BSN, RN
Pediatric Case Management
Upstate University Hospital Health System
Syracuse
,
NY
United States
Anne Woodrow reached out to our very own Upstate Foundation requesting some financial help for a patient and his family. He was a gravely ill 3-year-old in desperate need of a liver and small bowel transplant. Everyone agreed he needed to be at a different facility where they are better suited to care for his complex medical situation. The family has health insurance, however, because it was not considered to be a transport for a higher level of care, (at that point there was not a donor for him) the insurance would not pay for transport there. The family had to take out a personal loan of greater than $9,000 to get him there. Anne tried as hard as she possibly could to get the insurance company to make an exception. She also reached out to various transport companies but was not successful. Anne did not stop. She wrote a letter to the Upstate Foundation explaining the situation and requested any help at all for this family. The foundation agreed to cover the entire cost. Our patient was in the right place at the right time. He received a liver and small bowel from a young boy who was at the same hospital who is alive and doing very well. Thank you, Anne, for your relentless commitment to our pediatric population.