Cynthia Abadines from Case Management was nominated for the DAISY Award by her patient. The patient was of Asian descent and had very limited financial resources, he was diagnosed with renal failure and was in need of dialysis three times a week. When the patient found out that dialysis would cost him $9000 per week, he stated that he would rather die than put his family through the financial burden. Cynthia took the time to sit with the patient and the family. She listened to their concerns; she explained how to complete the insurance forms. Cynthia knew that the patient was a candidate for emergency Medicaid. She did not take "no" for an answer from the outpatient dialysis companies. She appealed the decision and even called the CEO of one of the companies and explained the situation. After several days of bad news and a lot of crying by the wife; Cynthia delivered the good news to the wife and the daughter: The dialysis company accepted the patient with the Medicaid pending. The wife and daughter were crying. When I went into the room to talk to the patient, he had tears in his eyes as he asked me "Do you mean that I can keep the catheter and I don't have to die now?".

The patient was discharged home that evening with his appointment for treatment at the dialysis center.