Sonia always has a bright smile on her face and is always ready to help patients, families, and staff with 200% of her effort on a daily basis. Sonia, being a veteran herself, is very aware of the veteran's perspective and needs. Sonia's focus is always on patient care and she goes above and beyond her call of duty to facilitate every step of the process in our complicated healthcare system.
As I started working at the Phoenix VA in primary care with the huge staffing turnover as a new PCP, I found Sonia to be a breath of fresh air and steady as a rock. Sonia is so upbeat and her positivity is so infectious and she makes the whole clinic an enjoyable place to work. Patients are so happy to tell her their story, they take a moment to say how happy they were to meet her before I can start my primary care visit with them. While doing her assigned task of taking the vitals of patients, Sonia asks about the patient's concerns for the visit, completes the clinical reminders, administers the vaccines she is able to without a physician order, requests the RN to do the clinical reminders RNs are able to do, and distills the patient's complaints for me as the PCP to address with the patient.
In addition, Sonia also goes beyond to explain any concerns of the patients such as consults, educates them on the different resources that may be of interest to the patient and seeks out answers from others to find answers for the patients. Sonia is in constant touch with our patients and responding to their Secure Messaging on a daily basis and working with the whole team to address the veterans' and their families' concerns. Sonia diffuses tensions of veterans and sets a positive tone, a key and necessary first step to healing.
We are so fortunate and grateful to have Sonia in our clinic as she is making a huge difference in the lives of everyone she touches.