Nominated by Abegail Yocum, CMA | Colleague

I would like to nominate Sarah Flores for the compassion award. I am nominating Sarah for this award because she is constantly showing ICARE values in her daily tasks. There is one patient in particular that Sarah went above and beyond with. She is a patient that they had found cancer in, and they needed to send her to Lubbock to see an oncologist as well as needing certain treatments done here at our facility. Unfortunately, the patient did not have her own transportation, and was unable to afford the transportation options that were given to her which was going to hinder the treatment she needed to receive. After talking with the patient Sarah was made aware that this patient has no family near her to help her out, so Sarah paid for the patient’s transportation to her oncology appointments in Lubbock as well as her transportation to our facility for imaging. Sarah continued to do this until the patient was released. She did this with no hesitation, she saw a patient that needed help to get the care she deserved, and she lent a helping hand. This event truly showed the type of compassion Sarah has for her patients.

Nominated by Scott Beard, M.D. | Physician

Sarah Flores, CMA in Women’s Health has truly gone above and beyond over the last 7 months for a patient of women’s health. This patient came in to see Dr. Beard at the end of June and after having a biopsy done at this appt she was diagnosed with cancer. The patient had a follow-up scheduled to receive results, and the patient was a no showed to her appointment. Sarah attempted to confirm the appointment prior and realized the patient did not have a working phone number. After the patient missed the appt she continued to try the number on file with no avail. Sarah expressed her concerns to me, her supervisor, and asked what could be done. We went through a few steps and still had no luck contacting the patient, or even getting certified mail to her. We did have an alternate contact for the patient, but the person answering the phone did not know where she was. Sarah continued for 5 months to contact the alternate contact just to see if he had heard from her and to remind him to please have her contact us as it was important. Sarah also set up a welfare check for this patient at her address on file, but it was an RV park and the patient no longer had her RV there. Finally, after 5 months the patient called Dr. Beard’s office late one evening after hours and Sarah happened to still be here working late (again she was going above beyond by being here late) and answered the phone.  Sarah right then and there got the patient scheduled, worked on transportation and all the logistics. She also walked the patient to the cancer center for her first appointment, so she did not have to be alone. The story doesn’t end here, the patient did not have the financial means to pay for Nor-Lea transportation, and financial counseling was unable to help the patient at this time. Sarah not only scheduled and set up all future appointments for patient cancer treatments, some of these being in Lubbock with a specialist, she also set up and paid for out of her own pocket for the patient’s transportation on each occasion. I have waited to nominate Sarah over this time as the story has continued to unfold. The patient recently had surgery with Dr. Beard and had her cancer removed (hopefully), and Sarah has continued to stay in touch with the patient, coordinate her follow-up care and pay for her transportation each time. Dr. Beard and I want to nominate Sarah for this award as she showed this patient true compassion and went above and beyond in every way.

Nominated by Laura Gryder | Navigation Coordinator

I would like to nominate Sarah Flores for an Exceptional Care Award. Dr. Beard had a gynecology case that had been referred to a specialist at UMC for a higher level of care. Sarah and her team had worked tirelessly to follow through with the referral and ensure that the patient was taken care of. This patient ended up being admitted at UMC and needed follow up chemotherapy. Due to patient’s insurance coverage, UMC was risking treating the patient with out-of-pocket costs or transferring her to Albuquerque New Mexico where here insurance was in network. UMC was having a difficult time finding a location that would accept the patient and reached out to Dr. Beard’s office to communicate this. It is during this call that Sarah took the initiative to go out of her way to ensure that the patient received the care that she deserved. Sarah voiced to the UMC nurse that our cancer center had a navigator and offered to connect UMC to us. Sarah, with the nurse on the other line, called me directly and provided me with details of the patient’s case and asked if we could please assist. She transferred the nurse directly to me and ensured that if there were any resources, they were available to the nurse and most importantly, the patient. With this direct connection, we were able to schedule the patient within days with our center and plan to provide her with the care that she needs here locally including chemotherapy. When I called the nurse back to communicate all the details, Dr. Reedy personally got on the phone. He voiced that he was having to risk keeping the patient in the hospital to attempt to treat her and this was going to be so expensive for the patient. Not to mention the fact that the patient was not going to be able to be at home with her family support during the time that she needed it the most. He was so thankful for the coordination and most of all for the initiative that Sarah took to ensure that this patient was taken care of by connecting the appropriate resources. Thank you, Sarah, for going out of your way to take care of this patient. You changed someone’s life that day!

“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future.”
 – Nelson Mandela

Click here for a list of previous award winners