Nurses and Patients: How Angela Velasquez, RN, Makes a Difference
Nurses Week 2024
Being able to watch “her kiddos” overcome the odds and grow up is its own reward, says Angela Velasquez, RN, a Cook Children's Health Plan Case Manager in the Medically Dependent Children Program.
“It's really fulfilling,” she said.
For nearly nine years, Angela Velasquez, RN, served as a middleman between Clayton Coker's family and insurance companies, doctors’ offices and other medical services.
She was “basically Clayton’s problem solver.”
As a Cook Children's Health Plan Case Manager, Angela works in the Medically Dependent Children Program with medically complex kids and their families. She worked with Clayton and his family until he aged out of the program last month at 21 years old.
“If the pharmacy won’t fill a script, I would call and get that taken care of,” she said. “If (his mom) had questions about what doctors she needed to call, or equipment she needed delivered, I was basically available to her Monday through Friday.”
Clayton’s mom, Cindi Coker, said working with Angela meant “everything in the world.”
When the Coker family first met with Angela, they had been on a traditional Medicaid plan before and enrolling in the Cook Children’s Health Care Plan.
“We got assigned a case manager and when things are happening at such a state level and you have a medically complex child, it can be unnerving,” Cindi said. “And she just kind of scooped us up and said, ‘I got you.’”
The medical care can be multifaceted and confusing, and for families of a medically complex child, navigating it can feel impossible. Angela helps take some of that load off the shoulders of family members.
For Clayton and his family, she was even able to coordinate home modifications to help him get from his bathroom to the bedroom more easily. Angela, through her years of dedication and tackling roadblocks head-on, provided an integral continuity of care, Cindi said.
“It makes all the difference in the world,” Cindi said about having Angela by their side. “Because without them (case managers), things can't really get done or they can get done, but they're just not done as easily.”
It’s easy to see that Angela is passionate about helping the families she works with and making sure their care is as smooth as possible.
“I enjoy everything about my role,” she said. “I enjoy being able to provide these families with a little bit of relief.”
Even though Clayton aged out of the Medically Dependent Children program, the tools Angela gave his family will continue to help them with his care, his mother said.
“Her skillset as the case manager was preparing me for the unknown and the unseen and how she attacked that taught me how to manage and handle what was coming,” Cindi said.
Throughout her years in the Medically Dependent Children program, Angela has helped patients and families with everything from getting infant formula to making sure Medicaid pays for medications properly. She also is there as a listening ear to reassure families to make sure they know they’re doing a great job.
Being able to watch “her kiddos” overcome the odds and grow up is its own reward, Angela said.
“It's really fulfilling,” she said. “The great part about this program is that we're helping these kiddos not be institutionalized, and they're able to be at home with their families.”