I had a teenage patient come in with their parents a couple of months ago with a large tumor that was rapidly growing on his face. The patient did not have insurance. His parents had been trying to find anyone who would care for him but were turned away from multiple hospitals and clinics due to lack of coverage. They had even gone all the way to San Antonio to be seen at a hospital, again to be turned away for no insurance. The parents and their son were so disheartened and frustrated. The tumor was not only causing him distress because of cosmetic issues, but it was also starting to cause him pain as it grew larger. I reached out to the MyCHN oncology team via Teams to inquire if the team was able to see the patient because he is a minor. Andrea let me know that they could not see children but that she would reach out to the team to see if they had any suggestions or resources to help my patient. Andrea reached out to TCH on behalf of my patient and discovered that they have a financial assistance program available. She was able to give me instructions for the referral process and called my patient’s family to provide instructions and coordination for the assistance consult appointment.
We checked in on our patient last week, and mom said that he had been seen for the tumor, and it ended up being more extensive than originally anticipated. His surgery and hospital stay were covered by TCH’s assistance program, and my patient is now home and recovering well. His parents are so grateful for the help given to them and their child. I wanted to nominate Andrea for an empathy award because Andrea went above and beyond to provide assistance to my patient and his family. Andrea’s team wasn’t able to see my patient, so they could have just sent me or my staff the resource recommendations to give to my patient, but Andrea took the time to inform and coordinate with his parents to ensure that they received the care that they needed. Further, Andrea followed up with them multiple times to make sure they were headed in the right direction with their care and that they didn’t feel like they were a completed task. Andrea provided exceptional, empathetic service and demonstrated how much they care about the patients we serve.