Lizz Porter, LCSW

As soon as Lizz begins to speak, you feel that that you are talking with an experienced patient advocate.

Lizz’s involvement in case management simply “happened” as “the role of the hospital social worker evolved over the years” into that of case manager.

“I never thought I’d see nurses doing what I was trained to do,” Porter said. “Case management was a role specific to social workers.”

Her 20 years in health care, including the last 8 as a social work case manager, have produced many stories. Her most memorable came while working at a 1,000-bed hospital in Washington, D.C., when she was responsible for coordinating the discharge of a patient to Ethiopia, working with the embassy and collaborating with Ethiopian caregivers.

Lizz quickly lists the current major challenges facing case management: limited resources, bureaucracy and Medicare cutbacks. As a social work case manager, Lizz also defines working with dysfunctional families and family dynamics as a primary challenge that she can meet. “I wish the psycho-social component was as important as it used to be in years past.” Lizz brings to the job vast experience, a keen knowledge of resources, and the ability to confront most patient situations and be able to work with it.

Sandra Downing, RN, MPH

Sandra Downing has had a unique and varied experience in skilled and non-skilled services during her 43 years of nursing, including nursing education, supervisory roles and home health.

For the past eight years, Sandra has worked as a case manager, of which the last three years have been in the emergency room. The worst part of Sandra’s job: “Having to look a patient or family in the eyes and tell them there are no services to offer or available options to help with needed care.”

On the other hand, the best part of her job is when patients “say ‘you’re welcome,’ or getting hugged as a thank you for helping a family or patient in need. She notes there is a huge amount of satisfaction when the ER physician says, “Let me ask your professional opinion.”

Sandra feels case management’s contribution to the healthcare system is underestimated in its capabilities.

“Hospitals don’t fully realize the value of case management as a type of nursing that complements and enhances the patient’s experience with their total care,” she said. Sandra’s wish would be that nurses regain the opportunity to care for patients at the bedside, lost to documentation and computer work. That’s why working in the ER provides Sandra with the bedside experience that totally makes her day.

There are many qualities that make a team great. Here at Memorial Hospital Miramar our case management team embody the meaning through effective communication, pride, caring, and accountability. Using an interdisciplinary approach , they have played an integral role in maintaining and exceeding Length of Stay goals while promoting timely care and treatment for all patients. They ensure a safe discharge plan providing our patients with the resources and education to meet their specific needs. Our team is made up of staff with varied experience and backgrounds, each contributing in a unique and valuable way. They use innovation and anticipatory thinking to tackle the most difficult cases always working together collectively to accomplish their goals.

They make a difference every day. Congratulations team!

Sitting (l-r): Shirley Watkins Blythe, R.N., Case Manager; Dorene Dunkley, R.N., Case Manager. Standing (l-r) Yvonne Harris, R.N., Case Manager; Laurie Moretti, R.N., Case Manager; Dana Rumph, M.S.W.; Patty Wilds, R.N., C.C.M., Director; Natasha Gautier, R.N., Case Manager; and Anna Carter, R.N., M.S.N., CPUR Manager for Case Management.

VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®

Kelly Michael, LCSW
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® in Broward County

Hospice is about Patients’ Needs and Wants

When Kelly Michael, LCSW, gets a new patient, she first tries to find out his or her goals and expectations.

“I don’t walk in and say, ‘This is what’s going to happen,’” says Kelly, a social worker for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® in Broward County. “I try to assess what my patients (and their families want), and invariably, they want to die in comfort.”

Kelly tends to VITAS patients in hospital contract beds, “so many of our patients are actively dying,” she says. “We therefore have very little time to get in there and make a difference.” Nonetheless, using VITAS’ many resources, Kelly often, for example, helps patients go home to die, or—if they have been estranged from their families—to reconnect with loved ones.

In most cases, Kelly’s patients have just received their terminal diagnoses, so they and their families might be in a state of intense grief, she explains. They also might not fully understand what hospice care is.

“There is still a lot of misperception about hospice,” she says, “so I talk with patients and their families, and I stress that we are about comfort care—not just about death—and I tell them about the team of people behind them, taking care of their physical, emotional, psycho-social and spiritual needs.”

Maria Gomez
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® in Miami-Dade County

Hospice Social Worker Holds Death in One Hand, Hope in the Other

As the social worker in the hospice inpatient unit at Hialeah Hospital, Maria Gomez wears many hats.

“In one day, I might go from having a cup of coffee with a grieving family member to helping with a patient’s hospital discharge to helping a team member change a patient’s sheets,” says Maria, a social worker with VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® in Miami-Dade County.

Before she joined VITAS, Maria was in child welfare and “was always working with troubling situations,” she says. “In hospice, there are troubling situations, but they’re different because I feel like I’m really helping people.

“I have to be able to see, feel and touch death but also work with a patient’s family around the idea that life goes on,” continues Maria. “I have death in one hand and hope in the other, and that’s rewarding for me.”

Although the idea of instilling hope might seem contrary to her work, Maria says it’s a natural extension of hospice care.

“I instill hope in our patients by giving them a safe place to express their fears about dying and assuring them that everything will be taken care of for them,” she says. “For the family, I instill hope by assuring them that their loved one will die in comfort.”

Aventura Hospital and Medical Center Salutes Their Case Managers and Facilities Management

Aventura Hospital and Medical Center proudly salutes our Case Managers and Facilities Management team for their dedication, hard work and commitment to provide excellence in care for our patients, families and community. Thank you!

Back Row (l-r): Paulette Redwood, LPN; Inna Syrochezchko, RN; Kathie De Rogatis, RN; Kathi Serna, RN; Ginger Irving, RN; Osvaldo Fernandez; Anne Millman, RN; David Ramos; Debbie Carattini, LPN; Olga Alvarez; Bridgette Johnson, LPN; Dr. Desiree Rosenthal; Margaret Perez, LPN; Ilene Fishman, RN; Mark Eddinger; Cecelia Yeomans, LPN; Mario Rodriguez, RN; Lorraine Rettig, RN; Emil Hazim; Arlene Trujillo; Julissa Moreira; Francisco Salinas; and Roger Dawdy.

Front Row (l-r): Joe White, Bob Goodey, Hugo Munoz, Lev Goykhman, Bernie Kreuer, Orett Weldz, and Christian Goss.

Sandi Karnbach, LCSW
Case Managing Returning Veterans

The Veterans Affairs Medical Center, West Palm Beach, is committed to providing quality health care, care coordination, and case management services to our returning Operation Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) service members, veterans and their families. The OEF/OIF Program at this facility includes a Program Manager, Transition Patient Advocate, Case Manager and Program Support Assistant. They work closely together to ensure that the returning service members and veterans are assessed and assisted with obtaining quality and timely healthcare and benefits delivery. The program also provides outreach at local military units within the community to assist with education on VA services, benefits and enrollment.

Sandi Karnbach is the Case Manager for the program. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a Family Mediator and Licensed Therapist that is also certified to teach Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse. Karnbach earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Florida Atlantic University and Masters in Social Work from Barry University. She has worked with clients in Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Case Management and Corrections for ten years. Before starting her social work career, she worked in Journalism for four years. Karnbach is married with two young girls and is a native of West Palm Beach.

Sherron Olliff, MSW, LCSW
Care Coordination Home Telehealth/Mental Health Care Coordinator

The Department of Veterans Affairs Care Coordination Home Telehealth (CCHT)/Mental Health Program was designed to assist high risk, high resource utilizers in improving the self management of their chronic illnesses. CCHT program strives to “Provide the Right Care at the Right Place at the Right Time”. The program has two key elements: proactive care coordination for the veteran across the continuum of care and home monitoring using home messaging devices. Veteran responses are transmitted back to the Care Coordinator at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center who in turn reviews responses and calls veterans based on their responses and clinical need.

Sherron Olliff serves as the coordinator of this program at the WPB VA Medical Center. Olliff has been employed at the VA since 1995. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology/Minor in Social Work from Georgia Southern College and her Masters in Social Work from the University of Hawaii. With over 30 years of experience in clinical social work, her expertise lies in working with adults in both medical and psychiatric settings. Sherron serves on the hospital’s Ethics Committee and is a student preceptor. She has been happily married for 25 years and has two teenage children. Hobbies include gardening and boating.

Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service

Linda Miller and Kathy Porges

Linda Miller and Kathy Porges are two of Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service’s outstanding case managers, said Dr. Jaclynn Faffer, CEO of the nonsectarian, nonprofit agency. Miller, a resident of Boynton Beach, came to RRJFS in August, 2006, when RRJFS was designated the lead agency serving seniors in south Palm Beach County, by the Area Agency on Aging. Porges, also from Boynton Beach, has been on board since February.

Dr. Faffer noted that the two case managers have 90 open cases between them, and the average age of their clients is high eighties. “They have more clients in their nineties than seventies,” she said.

The two visit seniors at home and assess any help they may need with basic hygiene, housekeeping, meals, shopping, respite, companionship, transportation and day care. They also assist in providing nutritional supplements and supplies for incontinence.

Miller has always specialized in geriatric social work. “The issues in social work are the same as 20 years ago. The difference is that there are more elderly in need due to limited income and growth of elderly population. Clients are living longer and as they age, they need more services.”

She added, “The most rewarding part of this job is providing needed services for those homebound elderly so they may live with dignity at home and avoid being placed in a nursing home. ALL my clients want to stay at home. They do not want to be placed in a facility.”

What I find most rewarding is seeing how I helped clients age in place by focusing on their strengths and coping skills so that they can maintain or improve their current level of functioning and independence. I also know that I am the ‘eyes and ears’ for the family,” Porges said, “I help give them peace of mind when they are overburdened by the stress of long distance caring.”

Linda Sachs
Director of Respite

As Director of Respite at Broward Children’s Center, Linda Sachs has learned that sometimes supporting a child with a disability means focusing on the family as much as the child.

Since joining the Center’s team in 1997 Sachs has headed its efforts to provide relief to caregivers of children with special needs. Respite is “what makes care giving manageable,” says Sachs. The most common response she hears from caregivers is that Respite has kept their family together.

“The best way I can summarize this program is to say that is helps families go from surviving to thriving,” says Sachs.

Sachs is originally from New York and received her BSW from SUNY Buffalo State and her MSW with a specialization in Healthcare Systems and Group Work from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 1981 Sachs moved to Florida to work in private practice. After deciding to pursue a new challenge with a different population, Sachs became the Director of Respite at Broward Children’s Center where she has been instrumental in the development of the program as it is today.

Linda is also sharing her experience as an Adjunct Professor at Florida Atlantic University and a Field Instructor for Barry University, Florida International University, and Florida Atlantic University.

Under Linda’s direction the Center’s Respite Program has grown to provide in-home and facility- based care for caregivers of children age birth to 17 with cognitive and/or physical disabilities, or with an autism spectrum disorder.

Sach’s goal has always been to make the intake process as easy and streamlined as possible for families. She finds that the biggest challenge families face is that they don’t have the time or the energy to ask for help. Linda takes a personal interest in every family that walks through her door, and is committed to making sure families get the help they need every step of the process.

Mayselin Joy Bell, RN, BSN, CCM
Case Manager

Joy Bell joined the HCA family in 2002 as a per diem case manager and advanced to her present position of full-time case manager / managed care coordinator at Westside Regional Medical Center. Bell’s nursing background includes 29 years of clinical experience in many areas of nursing care practicing in Jamaica, Nassau Bahamas and in the States. Her educational accomplishments include Certified Case Manager (CCM) certification, Batchelor of Science in nursing degree (BSN) and currently pursuing her Master in Nursing and Nursing Education (MSN/EDU) degree from the University of Phoenix. Joy is an active participant in the quality management department and education department as a CPR instructor and diabetic educator.

Bell’s experience, education and accomplishments within the healthcare arena have given her a place in the Cambridge Who’s Who Honors Edition 2006-2007. To continue with her dream and long range goal, she plans to teach nursing education and obtain a PhD in Nursing Education.

Bell feels her biggest challenges of the day comes from the present economic situation which presents to all case managers the growing number of uninsured patients and/or indigent patients who need affordable healthcare services. Her love of the senior patients and to get them everything they need is where her heart goes to work. She accepts the challenges with enthusiasm to assist all her patients’ needs.

Case Management Department

The Case Management Department at Westside Regional Medical Center is challenged with an ever expanding role in assisting patients through the continuum of care. With the support of our administrative team, job engagement, collaboration with the community and other members of the healthcare industry, we are able to meet the challenges most case managers face today. We take pride in our past accomplishments and our ability to meet the future needs of our patients, physicians and the community.

Signature HealthCARE
Jeffrey Beaty
Social Worker/Geriatric Care Manager

Jeffrey Beaty is the VP of Behavioral Healthcare for Signature HealthCARE and COO for Serenity HealthCARE. Beaty, along with the CEO of Signature HealthCARE, created Serenity HealthCARE, dedicated to meeting the needs of residents who have Alzheimer’s disease and other related disorders, based on the Serenity model of researching, developing, testing, and utilizing evidence-based best practices. Serenity participates in research collaborating with the Alzheimer’s Association and other strategic research partners.

From clinician to administrator to corporate operations, Beaty has worked within all levels of clinical continuums. His background includes involvement with geriatric medical social work for 23 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and dual masters degrees in Clinical Social Work and Social Work policy as well as a masters degree in Health Care Administration and is currently a Doctoral Candidate at A.T. Still University with a specialty in Geriatric Health Education.

United HomeCare Services

Brenda Cancel
Case Manager III
Solutions Program

Helping seniors to fulfill their wish to remain living at home is what Brenda Cancel enjoys most about her work as a case manager in the Solutions Program of United HomeCare Services. Brenda works closely with an interdisciplinary team of professionals that help seniors at risk of nursing home placement to remain living independently at home or in an assisted living facility within the community.

Her prior experience as a mental health counselor and discharge planner has brought a unique perspective to her work during her 9 years at United HomeCare.

Brenda has welcomed new technologies implemented at UHCS, such as computer notebooks and telehealth monitoring, that have not only made her more efficient, but have also improved client outcomes. “By spending less time on paperwork, I can spend more time addressing my clients’ needs, which is the most satisfying part of what I do everyday.”

Her most memorable experience is helping a client with multiple sclerosis who was unable to get out of bed to open the door for her home health aide. After researching various intercom devices, Brenda found a company to install an intercom system by her client’s bedside and was able to locate a donor to pay for it. Brenda lives by her client care philosophy that “all problems have a solution and persistence pays off.”

Social Workers Spotlighted as ‘Stars for a Day’

Vero Beach’s Indian River Medical Center case managers put on the glitz in honoring their social workers during National Social Worker Month. The Private Dining Room was transformed into a movie house fit for the Oscars with movie posters covering the walls, a red carpet, gift bags including microwave popcorn and other edible goodies, and “golden statue” awards. The social workers, equipped with hints about the event they received before the date, were told to dress in their “opening night” best.

(l-r) First row: Elissa Bonet, case manager, and Maureen Kaminski, office coordinator; second row: social workers Debbie Voorhees, Sheila Jackson, Sylvia Krchnak and Kendra Pierce; third row: Elisa Morris, Barbara DeVoe, bed control coordinator; Karen O’Keefe, Janet Sanders, Pat Habraken, Linda Johnson, Suzette Verbeck, Lisa Smerker, Jolene Johnson, Barb Long, Kim Buckland and Jackie Caminati. All are case managers with the exception of Barbara DeVoe. Social workers Gina Bartolucci and Susan Joyce were recognized but not able to attend.

Douglas Gardens Community Care
Miami Jewish Home and Hospital

Karen Mendoza
Case Manager Supervisor

Karen Mendoza works as a Case Manager Supervisor at Douglas Gardens Community Care (DGCC), a program that offers a comprehensive range of healthcare and personal care services for eligible seniors living at home or in other community-based residences. With over 600 clients a year receiving services, she sees a variety of cases, the toughest of which are those referred from Adult Protective Services. “Those clients are difficult because they typically don’t want our help,” Karen says. Usually it’s a worried neighbor or family member that contacts the Alliance for Aging, which refers the calls to DGCC, a division of the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital, or one of the other three lead agencies in Miami-Dade County. When asked what the biggest challenges are for case managers, Karen doesn’t hesitate. “Lack of funding,” she says. “It’s a shame that we can’t provide long-term solutions for cases like those we get from APS – the hoarders, the ones who have houses full of animals, the ones you see on the evening news.” Despite the frustration, her pride comes through when Karen says, “It takes all our creativity to help our clients the best we can, despite the lack of funds. It’s a constant challenge but I love it.”

Daimierys Dominguez
Case Manager

As one of the Case Managers who works with Karen at Douglas Gardens Community Care, a division of the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital, Daimerys’s days are filled with phone calls from clients and providers as she tries to balance the needs of seniors requiring more services as they age and fewer resources as State funds are cut. “They need more homemaking help, more items like incontinence supplies, more personal care,” Daimierys says, “and the funds just aren’t there.” With a case load of 52 clients, she puts her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology to good use figuring out how to best serve the most vulnerable segment of our population. Most of them are living in their own homes and have a caregiver, usually a child, who tries to help but often has little time or resources themselves. “The fact is it costs the State less money to provide these services through agencies such as ours and keep people out of long-term care facilities,” Daimierys goes on to say. Knowing we will soon be facing an explosion of seniors as the Baby Boomers age, she remains optimistic. “Let’s hope more funds become available in the future. This is such important work.”

Eileen Chadwick, BS, RN
Acute Care Case Manager

Eileen Chadwick joined the Case Management Team at Imperial Point Medical Center (IPMC) in 2006. She started her career at Broward Health working as an RN at North Broward Medical Center and later transferred to Gold Coast Home Health. She now works at IPMC on the medical/surgical floor.

Eileen’s combination of experience, skills, knowledge and expertise benefit her patients at IPMC. Her cheerful disposition and positive outlook is felt by all around her. Patients and families have praised and acknowledged her numerous times for her assistance in ensuring a smooth transition from hospital to the next step. She has also received commendations from on site insurance RN liaisons thanking her for “her thorough job, her compassion and taking the time to listen to patients.”

Eileen arrives early at work and leaves only when the job has been completed. She is a team player, always the first to offer help to her co-workers, and volunteer for special projects. She helped the entire team win the IMPC CEO Award for reducing the medical length of stay at the facility.

In addition to her busy work schedule, Eileen is dedicated to her family. She is a mother of three children (Amanda, Scott and Ryan) and married to husband Mike. She blends all her roles successfully with skill and ease. Eileen is truly a star to those that she serves.

Submitted by Barbara Brower, Case Management/Business Operations Manager.

Dalé Morgan
Social Worker/Case Management Department

Dalé Morgan, with her bright smile and boundless energy, has been part of the Behavioral Health Case Management team at Imperial Point Medical Center (IPMC) since November 2005. After receiving her MSW from Florida International University, Dalé focused her career on young teens and adults with alcohol and substance abuse issues. She is a Certified Addiction Professional and helps adult patients address mental health and addiction issues.

Dalé takes a collaborative approach in her work, ensuring patients participate in their own treatment and recovery. She clearly communicates her role in their care, and conducts extensive searches to ensure that discharge placements match the patient’s needs. Her compassion and caring goes above and beyond which is evident by the many letters, notes and positive comments from patients and family members. One patient remarked how Dalé’s role in his discharge “made a world of difference.” Family members comment on her professionalism, resourcefulness and kind manner which gave them peace of mind during times of stress.

Dalé helps other co-workers without asking. With her big heart and caring manner, you realize the positive impact Dalé has had on patients when they return months later to thank her. She is truly a bright star who delivers Imperial Service to her patients!

Submitted by Barbara Brower, Case Management/Business Operations Manager.

Barbara Hinds

I am a Psychiatric Nurse Case Manager/Utilization Review Coordinator, and I have been working at Columbia Hospital for just over one year. I’ve been a Psychiatric Nurse for 17 years and have worked in a variety of settings including inpatient, psychiatric home health, and telephonic nursing programs. I graduated from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barr, Pennsylvania in 1991 with a BS in Nursing and a BA in Psychology and then obtained my Psychiatric Nursing Certification in 1994.

I moved to Florida in 1999 for the sunshine, the beaches, the warm weather and a change of pace. I made my decision to become a nurse at age 6 and have never regretted that choice. In nursing you need to have an open mind, be willing to work hard, be able to work independently while also being part of a team. You need to have common sense, be a good listener and I believe you must have a good sense of humor. I’m motivated by helping others both in my personal life and professional life. Success to me is gaining pleasure from the work I do, and I do gain pleasure from helping others and being good at what I do. My most important accomplishment to date would be that I am the first person in my family to attend and complete college and graduate with 2 degrees in 4 years.

The story on how I gravitated to Case Management/Utilization Review is an easy one. I was laid off from a job that I had been at for 5+ years running a telephonic nursing support program and was looking for something else in the psychiatric field. I saw that Columbia Hospital had an opening for a case manager and decided to apply figuring that I could learn something new to further my knowledge, and my present supervisor decided to take a chance on me. I figure now I have worked on both sides of the fence, first caring for the patients and doing the documentation and now I am using that documentation to try to get the patient stays covered and make sure they are getting the ongoing help that they need. I work with some great workers so it makes coming to work each day a positive experience. If you had to ask my coworkers or boss to describe me, I would say the reply would be that I am outspoken, hard working, driven, willing to help out others or take on new challenges, self directed, and definitely comical.

Lynne DeStefano

I am a registered Nurse Managed Care Reviewer at Columbia Hospital. I can always remember wanting to become a nurse, from the days when I used to take care of my little brother when he needed care. I received my nursing degree from Suffolk Community College in Long Island. I also had some additional training in Texas. I had a small layover in sunny California for 5 years before deciding to settle in Florida. I have enjoyed my 8 years here at Columbia Hospital as a case manager. I’ve worked in several positions in discharge planning and utilization review. I know that I enjoy Case Management the best. To be a good case manager you need to have great listening and communication skills, and creativity definitely helps. As a case manager you are definitely part of a support team for the patient, their family, and the physician. A case manager also serves as a liaison for managed care providers. There is also a multi- disciplinary team in the hospital that provides input regarding the patient’s needs. All members of the team are required to bring together the appropriate resources for the patient to receive the very best care. The case manager directs that process to make sure everything is in place for the patient to have a safe discharge. I will continue to work at Columbia Hospital, proud to be part of a great team where I know I can make a difference.