Ingrid and Stacy
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Ingrid Advocates for a Patient Who is Unable to Afford Surgery

Jan 6 2023
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Ingrid Askew (pictured above, right) works within patient support services at Mercy Health Weight Management Solutions in our Cincinnati market. She has also served with our ministry for the last eight years.

Her coworker, Stacy Jones, BSN, RN, (pictured above, left) recently recognized Ingrid for her outstanding efforts in assisting a patient get financial coverage for their surgery.

“Sharing an office with Ingrid, I get the privilege to hear firsthand how much she does for our patients,” Stacy explains. “I’m in awe of Ingrid’s work ethic and want her to know how much I appreciate all she does for our patients!”

One of Ingrid’s recent patients was told, by an outside source, that they had coverage for their surgery. But when the time came for surgery, the patient’s insurance company denied coverage, leaving the patient unable to bear the costs.

“Ingrid went out of her way, with the patient’s permission, to call his place of employment and ask them to pay for his surgery or to pay for the insurance coverage,” Stacy states. “Though this was denied, the patient was extremely appreciative of her persistence and determination to help him. Because the patient worked for a family business, the patient was ultimately able to get some assistance from the owners to help the patient proceed with his surgery. This surgery will help this patient live a longer and healthier life.”

Ingrid shares her inspiration for donating hours of her time to help this patient get the coverage he needed.

“I love the moment when I can announce to the patient that their surgeries have been approved. At times, there are denials. It’s at these unfortunate moments that patients do not know how to be their own advocate. But at these times, I enjoy getting to jump in and advocate for the patient. It sometimes requires me to be creative and find ways to help patients get the life-changing surgery they want and need.”

Stacy recognizes all the hard work that Ingrid puts in on a daily basis to ensure her patients live a long, happy life.

“I can’t say it enough, but I am so proud of the way Ingrid goes above and beyond for each individual patient,” Stacy shares. “She has a way of learning the individual needs of each patient and does her best to help with those needs. So many have unique obstacles to get them to their day of surgery and Ingrid does an amazing job to help each person achieve their goal.”

Stacy adds that her inspiration for recognizing Ingrid goes beyond her care and dedication to each of her patients.

“Ingrid’s primary focus is on the entire practice, how to help our patients have a good experience and helping our providers have a good day as well. She takes times to keep up with the ever-changing insurance requirements and helping patients navigate their weight loss benefits.”

Ingrid recently received a Core Culture Award in the Called to Shine program, our ministry’s digital recognition program which allows employees to recognize anyone across the ministry at any time, with personalized messages. Our leaders can allocate points to recognitions they send, and employees can redeem these points for merchandise, experiences and much more.

Check out other stories about our amazing team members.

Also, learn about the weight loss services we offer at Mercy Health.


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