#theVIPExperience Post #53: Molly Macleod

All of the Thank You’s

The biggest thing that I have learned at Crossroad is that the gratitude of others makes the work that I do worth it.

A typical shift at Crossroad consists of a lot of phone calls. There is time spent leaving voice messages, many minutes listening to the fantastic music of the scheduling center hold lines, and, every so often, a conversation with a patient. And in every single one of those conversations, the patients have always said thank you multiple times; every single one has been grateful for the work that I am doing.

At first, their thank you’s confused me. All I was doing was making phone calls: talking to them, to the scheduling centers, and to our office. The things I did, were never monumental. Sometimes, my calls only confirmed that they had already scheduled an appointment, and did not even need our help. But yet so many times, the patients expressed their gratitude and showed true appreciation for what I was doing.

As I continued to volunteer at Crossroad however, I have begun to understand exactly why the patients are so grateful. Each person is grateful, because through my work as a VIP, I have helped them to become more healthy, more empowered, and more capable in their own health care journey.

So many of the people I call are busy. They have so many commitments and other important things going on, that health care isn’t a priority-it doesn’t have time to be. So when the moments when I happen to call someone, maybe driving or in the middle of a task, they often realize that they had completely forgotten about their referral or the next steps in their health care process or that they simply due not have time to spend making phone calls and waiting on other people. So when I offer my support and my help, it is appreciated. For some people, a call from a VIP allows them to obtain the health care that they need.

Another feeling that the patients I call experience is frustration. Our healthcare system is complicated and difficult. Because of that, numerous patients have spent hours making calls and trying to navigate the system. A call from a VIP though, shows that they patient is not alone, and that we are there to help them through the process.

Ultimately, the patients that I help are those who face numerous barriers in their access to health care. Some barriers are physical, such as transportation, insurance, or monetary issues. Other barriers, while not as obvious, still take effort to overcome. Not everyone recognizes these barriers, I’m not sure I did before this year. The patients who face them however, know how hard it can be. It is these patients that can see the effect of what you are doing. They know the impact a phone call can have and they are grateful for the work that we are doing.

Hearing this appreciation and gratitude makes the phone calls and time on hold worth it. Each conversation I have with a patient shows exactly how I am making a difference in their lives every single day.

                                                                                                    -- Molly Macleod