Beth Alger began working at the Anamosa Family Medicine clinic in July 2020 as the care coordinator. In this position, she is assigned to work with people who have many complex, overlapping, and interrelated health conditions. Often, these patients have been recently hospitalized and are attempting to transition back to some form of independent living. Many lack adequate support, are aged, and are experiencing cognitive and physical limitations. Frequently, their family members are overwhelmed by the care needs, legal and social responsibilities, live elsewhere, and need assistance navigating the complexities of the healthcare system.

The care coordinator position requires a knowledgeable, compassionate, caring, confident, experienced, devoted nurse who can work independently, make thoughtful suggestions, and does not need a significant amount of hands-on direction. Beth is such a person. She has many years of nursing experience. She has accumulated significant depth and breadth of knowledge throughout her career. In addition to working full-time in the clinic, she works weekend packages at St. Luke's Emergency Department. It is clear she has a very collegial working relationship with the St. Luke's ED physicians who also staff the Jones Regional ED.

Beth's assistance has been indispensable for me when I am working with people who are struggling with complicated health and social problems. I have been able to present Beth with my concerns as well as my preferred outcome and she takes control of the situation. She often has insightful suggestions. She contacts patients routinely to review their progress. When a new problem is identified, Beth is succinct in her description and has an appropriate recommendation for an intervention.

Beth frequently accompanies patients to other appointments to facilitate communication between providers, including myself, the patient, and their family. She did this even when the visit was to another town. She meets people in the emergency rooms, visits them in the hospital, and contacts them subsequently to be certain this was effective communication and follow-up. This is so commonplace for Beth; I am sure we all take her work for granted. It is not routine, it is exceptional.

One story in particular stands out when Beth demonstrated all of the DAISY Standards of Excellence. We received a call mid-day from another clinic regarding a patient who was frustrated with the status of their health. They had abruptly left the other clinic while making significant threats of self-harm. Beth spent the day making numerous phone calls, advising family members on how to deal with the situation, and contacting various agencies and emergency services. She worked late into the evening at the Family Medicine clinic. She started early the next morning helping everyone continue to navigate this crisis. Fortunately, this episode had a happy conclusion. Without Beth's take-charge intervention and management, it is quite likely this person would have severely harmed themself and others. She saved at least one life and possibly more.

As I advised longtime patients of my pending retirement, they congratulated me and then inquired if Beth would be staying at the clinic. Their decision to choose the Anamosa Family Medicine clinic for their future primary care needs was dependent upon being able to continue to work with Beth.

Beth very definitely lives all the UnityPoint FOCUS values and clearly exemplifies all the DAISY Award Standards of Excellence. She represents JRMC very well.