Collaboration, Warmth, Acceptance-Service in South Philly

As one of fourteen Health Corps members serving in the City of Philadelphia public Health Centers, my duties as a Patient Advocate are similar to those of my fellow members who are tasked with helping patients navigate and enroll in Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs).  Pharmaceutical companies offer PAPs to provide free or low-cost prescription medications to patients who are otherwise unable to access brand name medications due to high market cost or lack of insurance coverage.  Although my day-to-day duties are similar to those of my fellow members at the other Health Centers, the phenomenal and dedicated staff at Health Center #2 have enhanced my experience and contributed to its uniqueness.

My day of service begins about an hour after the first patients have stepped into the clinic for walk-in or scheduled appointments.  As I greet the friendly faces of staff members on my way to the PAP office, the first patient begins to make her way towards my office after seeing her physician.  We exchange familiar pleasantries about weekend activities and news about her children since we last met.  As I hand her the medication that she has come to pick up, a young gentleman approaches me with a referral form in hand.  This time, there are also smiles, but the greetings are truncated as he tells me in his limited English, “Chinese please.  Guo yu (Mandarin).”  I scan my mental list of our multiple interpreters on staff and – lucky! – it’s a Tuesday and our Chinese-Mandarin interpreter is in for the morning.  I page her on the overhead speaker and in a few short minutes, she is at my side bridging the linguistic barriers between the patient and myself and making sure that all of his concerns and questions are effectively communicated.  The diversity of our South Philadelphian patient population is clearly reflected in the wide spread of interpreters we have on staff, including Vietnamese, Indonesian, Cambodian, and Spanish.  The interpreters are dedicated to ensuring that both the patients and the doctors are on the same page and linguistic barriers are minimized; quality healthcare is the ultimate goal for all patients regardless of background or language.  

This short glimpse is one of many multifaceted ways in which the staff at Health Center #2 have proven to be a collaborative force toward improving the health experiences of those in a medically underserved community.  Aside from all of the wonderful patients I have had the pleasure of meeting during my service term, one of my favorite parts of service at this host site has been the overwhelming support and encouragement that my PHC host site partner and I have received since the beginning of our service term. 

Despite my initial trepidation at the prospect of being an “outsider,” from the first day I arrived at my health center I have received nothing but warmth and acceptance although I had a lot to learn about the workings of the health center.  The clerks are always quick to offer help finding charts; even when I intrude on their busy workload to look up a medical record number on the electronic medical system, I am only ever received with at most a harmless teasing and a laugh.  The medical staff is always willing to help with prescription clarifications and to fill me in on how best to handle difficult situations.  When the high patient load and the everyday hustling, bustling stressors – of which there are no shortage! – begin to wear down on my morale, staff members are always willing to “lend a shoulder” to vent on and to reciprocate for each other.  Even as Health Center #2 conquered the monumental task of moving to a new location and dealing with the frustrations of technological setbacks that derailed the smooth functionality of our old systems, the staff remained flexible and persevered together in order to serve our patients to the best of our ability.  I am thankful to have met such an amazing group of individuals and am more than proud to be able to serve alongside them as they strive to provide quality healthcare for South Philadelphia.
 

This post was written by PHC member Belinda Lao.
Belinda serves at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health - Ambulatory Health Services as a Patient Assistance Program Advocate.