Monica has a heart for the people we serve. She always goes above and beyond to make sure our patients, who often have difficulty navigating the healthcare system, are able to get what they need. There are so many instances that I have a hard time recalling them…but I will try and recount a few. She contacted the Downtown Women’s Center and requested information packets to provide to several of our pregnant patients who are currently incarcerated. These are women who are incarcerated related to drug use and expressed an interest in rehab during our visit but didn’t really know what options were available to them in our community or how to access a program that would provide long-term support. She printed the packets from her home and brought them to work so our patients would have the information if they ultimately wanted it.

Additionally, she has spent numerous hours on the phone with pharmacies trying to assist a patient who has been unable to get needed medications because she doesn’t qualify for Medicaid because she has private insurance, which she was both unaware of and has no card to prove coverage…so pharmacies keep denying her ability to pick up medication since she doesn’t have the card. On this one particular patient alone, I know she has spent several hours over the course of this pregnancy trying to assist her. This patient is pregnant, homeless, and has no phone. So she really has no way of trying to address this complicated situation on her own. While we have made referrals for social worker to assist, medications for her treatment are time-sensitive and require immediate attention, which Monica provided.

In another situation, just today, she took time out of her day to try and help one of our non-English speaking patients figure out how to access and print the documents they needed in order to prevent Medicaid from lapsing in the middle of her pregnancy. There are just a few of the examples I can think of off the top of my head, but she really does go above and beyond on something almost every single day. Often, these situations are time-sensitive to avoid a lapse in coverage, but the patient doesn’t realize what they need or how to access what they need to provide until it is down to the wire. Monica always goes above and beyond each and every time without being asked, and with a smile on her face. She is a great asset to myself and more importantly to the high risk population we serve I am proud to work with her everyday.