Claudia’s employment at CBHA began in 2003. She worked as an MA until two years ago when she became a Care Coordinator and began her work in quality.

She is teamed up with Janie Leal who is also a Care Coordinator. They work side by side to accomplish the many tasks assigned to them. Basically they monitor quality guided by their supervisor, Hayley Middleton. “We monitor the UDS Measures which deal with well child criteria, mammograms, colonoscopies, pap, asthma – basically all preventive health,” Claudia said. They also oversee the Well Child 1 and 2 program where they determine whether babies are coming in for their checkups and reward them with a gift when they stay on track.

Claudia was nominated for this award by Janie Leal who, as her coworker, has the opportunity to observe her work ethic. “Claudia displays a positive attitude every day at work. Even through stressful times of deadlines, she keeps her mindset positive. I see how she enjoys her job when she meets with providers and their teams, always smiling and praising them for their hard work,” Janie said. Claudia thinks she has done her job when the teams are successful.

Outreach events are a big part of what Claudia does. “When we do outreach events, I see Claudia step in to take a blood pressure when nursing staff need help with patients. Claudia is always the one who jumps in to help if she sees someone in need. She also likes to be prepared for events – making sure we have enough bags with preventive health information and giveaways,” Janie said. These events are usually done in the summer; three have been done so far this summer.

The care coordinators do a lot of training, watch over the blood pressure monitors, and a lot of other jobs that don’t really fit anywhere else. Janie stressed that Claudia really likes to see staff succeed. When staff come to her with questions she pulls away from her work to assure that staff have her full attention. “I have heard from staff that Claudia is one of the best Trainers on the floor; she enjoys training others and sharing her knowledge.

One of Claudia’s favorite things to do at CBHA remains her connection with the medical assistants and providers. “I haven’t let go of that. I also love to do the outreach and remain connected with the patients. We are focused on preventive care and calling patients to remind them of needed tests. Claudia loves her job; she appreciates being recognized as Fire Starter of the month. She confessed that the very idea of so much attention being lavished on her were she to be selected almost made her want to never be Fire Starter of the Month. “However it is wonderful to be chosen and I am very grateful.”

Claudia is a seasoned traveler. She keeps a bucket list of places she wants to visit and has checked a lot of them off thus far. Her most recent trip was to Las Vegas to celebrate her birthday. She had an experience a few years back that makes her live life to the fullest. She ended up in the hospital with some heart issues. She decided then that she would like to take time to travel more and be involved in the world.