Fillmore Medical Assistant goes beyond expectations to comfort patient during a traumatic experience

This story has been modified by compliance to protect patient health information.

While Bree Jensen was pulling into the employee parking lot of Intermountain Health's Fillmore Clinic in central Utah, she noticed a distressed individual on the phone next to a potential patient in the front seat of a car screaming in pain.?

“I instantly knew to help,” Bree said. “So, I went to them asking if?I could help and they needed to know where to go.” Bree stayed calm and comforted the individuals - evaluating the care that was needed and making sure an injury wasn't too serious or life threatening. She learned they were new in town and didn't know how to receive care. She safely escorted the individuals inside the facility and called to see if Wayne Brown, MD, would come from the emergency department to see if the individuals could avoid needing an ER visit. They thanked her and realized everything was going to be okay.

“I left the hospital to come assist in the clinic when Bree called,” Dr. Brown said. “We do that often if we are able to leave and if someone has ‘walked in’ that doesn’t want or need to go to the ER.”?

This is how Bree and Dr. Brown were sensitive to the patient’s needs and costs of care. Dr. Brown treated the patient and provided exceptional care. He said Bree was indispensable in this situation.

“The patient was very upset and scared,” He said. “They had just experienced a medical event and needed treatment. Bree stayed with the patient and joked with them and distracted them and held their hand so that treatment could be administered appropriately. This helped comfort the patient.”

Bree has been with Intermountain for two decades total that includes a gap where she moved out of state for her husband's job. As a medical assistant she said this one situation reflects Intermountain's values of compassion, trust, and excellence in care.

“I think Bree showed a perfect example of our values by going right to this family to find out what they needed and then getting them into the right place to get appropriate care in the right setting,” Dr. Brown said. “She then stayed with them. The other MAs took over some of her other work while she was in with this patient. The patient and patient's family member were smiling and joking as they left. They clearly had a good experience here, and hopefully, I think it may even overshadow the trauma from the earlier experience.”

“I’m thankful for Dr. Brown recognizing a job well done and that I could be a positive impact to a family that was worried and scared and to be able to provide them with comfort and trust that we could take care of them very well,” Bree said. Bree chose to be an MA because she likes helping others and making a difference in people's lives. She treats all patients how she would want her own family to be treated. She also said she enjoys not working weekends and holidays.

“Those are nice benefits as well,” she said.

Before medical school, Dr. Brown was with Intermountain for seven years. After medical school, he's been with us for another 24 years. In all that time he said he's learned that even though most of Fillmore's patients are longtime residents, some are new to the area and are trying to figure out the best way to get the care they need.

“I think what happened that day was somewhat unique because our clinic is on the same campus as the hospital,” he said. “We are often in clinic and in the hospital back-and-forth in the same hour. Our clinic staff and the hospital staff help us coordinate all of that. We have a great team here.”

To learn more about careers as a Medical Assistant, go to intermountainhealthcare.org/MAcareers