As I sit here planning my day and prioritize which client is most in need of my help, it dawns on me that tomorrow March 10, 2020, is the tenth anniversary of starting my business, Healthlink Advocates.
Challenged and Inspired
I reflect on the time the idea came into my head. I was recovering from a massive surgery and was pretty much "slapped on my back" for months. I was dedicated to my healing and took the next right baby steps each day towards recovery, hard as it all was. I remained hopeful and proud of my baby steps and was patient with the process. For those of you who know my younger self, patience was not my big strength. I was used to forging forward with lightning speed when I wanted something.
Being thrown back into the healthcare system, albeit as a patient, made me yearn to do something using my nursing skills and to help people directly, but I was not inclined to go back to floor nursing. I was working with a life coach in a training program who mentioned that she learned of this new profession called patient advocacy where people are helped to navigate the healthcare system, get supported when they were in the hospital, during doctor's visits and to understand their health conditions. She said, "I thought of you, it sounded like what you need to do." She had provided the link to what I was seeking and it was a clear as day that this was the work I was meant and blessed to do. I never looked back and went full steam ahead and officially incorporated Healthlink Advocates on March 10, 2010.
Gratitude and Pride
Today, I look back on the hundreds of clients I have been able to help navigate through their fear and confusion when they or a loved one experienced a health crisis. Starting a business can have its ups and downs but I never waivered because I knew this was what I was meant to do.
I am grateful and honored today to have on my team two amazing women, Lucille Plantemoli and Doris Zito, whose expertise, spirit and support have meant everything to me. My collaboration with Lucille, as another registered nurse highly trained as I was in a big Manhattan center of excellence, makes our expert care of our clients exceptional. Doris, with her twenty plus years immersed in understanding health insurance plans and advocating for clients when their insurance and billing issues get overwhelming, has been invaluable. She exudes professionalism, expertise beyond my scope and compassion and steadiness I have not experienced very much in my career.
Our Trusting Clients
For any clients reading this, we thank you for your trust in our services and the honor of walking the journey with you. We are grateful for all of the physicians, nurses and healthcare providers who appreciated and valued our work and who many times said we made their jobs easier. We look forward to many more years helping clients get the healthcare they deserve and hopefully help improve the healthcare system, one client at a time.
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