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“Have a seat and the therapist will be with you shortly.” Stassi forced through a smile and waited for the woman to go back to her seat. Stassi put that she was waiting and turned back to her previous patient. She scrunched her nose in thought, then a possible solution hit her. She didn’t know much about it, but she recalled that Darlene had called on an assistance program that could help a patient with their bills. It was at least worth a shot.

She looked at the counter, where all the important phone numbers were listed and finally found the number she was looking for. She quickly dialed it and waited for someone to answer. After only a couple of rings, a man picked up.

“Hi, John, my name is Stassi. I work at LA County, and I have a patient who needs some assistance in paying a bill and hoping you could take a look.”

“I’d be happy to. Provide the patient’s details, name, date of birth, when the date of service will be, and their income.”

Stassi gave the name and date of birth and then gave the date of service. “I don’t have the income, but I’m sure I can get that from the patient and give you a call back.”

“This service has already happened?” he asked.

“Yes. The insurance won’t cover it and the patient isn’t able to pay her bills.”

“I’m sorry, but we can do nothing about that. We only take care of payment before a service.”

Stassi’s jaw dropped. “That doesn’t make sense. Some patients wouldn’t know if their service would be covered, so what do they do? Have to suffer?”

“That’s not really our concern,” he began.

“What?” Stassi couldn’t believe the way he was responding. Every patient deserved to have compassion and care given to them. “You’re not doing your job, if you’re saying you don’t care.” Her voice raised a few more notches. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up to find Sage staring at her. She tilted her head and gave a sympathetic look before turning to the waiting room and calling the patient.

“Hey Sage,” the woman said, approaching her. “I’m used to the nurse grabbing me.”

“She had an appointment, so you’re stuck with me. How ya feeling?” Sage glanced over at Stassi before Stassi turned back to her call.

“I’m just trying to offer our patient some peace. Please tell me there is something you can do.”

“My hands are tied. If the request had been made before the patient came into your office, then there’s a chance we could help, but we have nothing available now.” Stassi sighed and sank into her chair.

“Alright. Goodbye.” She disconnected the call and stared at the cursor that hung in the middle of her screen. She went to the correspondence and typed out her information, from the call with the insurance company to the call with the assistance rep, then glanced down at the amount that was read in the patient’s balance. Her father would certainly assist if he had the funds, but since he personally doesn’t, then maybe there was something he knew that could assist the patient. Patients had to have better options than what they were given. It wasn’t fair. She grabbed the list and looked over her tasks, feeling like a failure that she couldn’t complete them all satisfactorily. She tossed the list to the side and shook her head. The system was broken, and she didn’t know how to fix it.

Sage

Sage refiled the chart and walked back to the receptionist’s desk. She heard the frustration in Stassi’s tone, and she knew that Stassi was struggling. Starting a new job was difficult, but when you’re frustrated right out of the gate, you’re left believing everything is against you. Sage totally understood the pain. But Stassi had to learn to chill, or she’d be out of there before she had gotten her first paycheck.

Stassi sat at her desk, unaware that Sage was watching her. Her eyes were zoned in on the computer, and the waiting room was bare. Sage cleared her throat so as not to frighten the young woman. Stassi looked up, and her eyes were red. She quickly looked away, her face flushed.

“I must look awful,” she muttered.

Sage shook her head. She still looked beautiful, a startling revelation. “Just thought I’d come out here and see how you’re doing.” Sage leaned against the counter and turned to Stassi. She eventually looked up, but there was obvious reluctance. She gave a slight shrug. “I can assure you that we all have rough days. Heck, we all have rough weeks. Is there anything I can assist you with?”

“I just feel like the system is broken. Patients need money, and there is none. Insurance companies don’t want to pay because they’re cheap. There’s nothing truly out there to benefit the patient.” She groaned. “And I’m rambling. Just please don’t tell my boss. She’ll probably get snippy with me about that, too.” Sage arched an eyebrow. “She was upset that I wore, in her words, gawdy jewelry. “She shook her head. “That’s a whole other issue. I’m just frustrated all around.” She dropped her gaze to the computer.

“Believe me; I’ve been there.” Sage wasn’t quite sure, but something about Stassi caused her to want to console her. “It was my first week, and I had this patient that had a massive stroke. They came in wanting my help, and because they didn’t have insurance, the hospital said that I couldn’t do anything for them.”

Stassi frowned. “What’d you do?”

“I was ready to throw in the towel. I thought it was crazy that anyone would want to let this patient suffer just because they didn’t have insurance to prove that they would somehow get paid. So, I fought through a lot of red tape and eventually found a program that assisted the patient in getting the help they needed. The patient came under my care, and a year later, they were succeeding. It was a great accomplishment, I felt.”

Stassi nodded. “I imagine it was.” She furrowed her brows. “I shouldn’t give up.” Sage smiled at her as the elevator door opened. “Hello, I can get you checked in,” she said. She was in better spirits as Sage walked away from the desk. She grabbed a chart and checked it over as the other elevator opened, and Lena stepped off onto the floor.

“You’re smiling,” Lena replied in greeting.

Sage snickered. “You’re delusional.”

Lena shrugged. “Looks like a smile. Ready for lunch?”

“I can’t. I have a full load this afternoon. Shayla is off for an appointment and is unsure if she’ll be back, and I’m the only OT this afternoon. I have a protein bar in my bag; I’ll grab it when I’m starving. You go on without me.”