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How a care coordinator helped restore hope for Heather
With help from her care coordinator, UnitedHealthcare member Heather can get the care she needs and live more independently.
With support from Health Plan of Nevada Medicaid, The After Market helps improve access to nutritious food, while preserving dignity, for those in need.
With help from her care coordinator, UnitedHealthcare member Heather can get the care she needs and live more independently.
The video shows an aerial view of a winding road cutting through a vast, green forest in the countryside. A blue banner appears in the lower left corner with white text. Heather Wison begins speaking. Upbeat, gentle music plays throughout.
On-screen text: Loudon, TN
Heather Wilson: I am a hobby breeder for Sphynx cats.
The video shows a montage of images of a hairless, pink Sphynx cat with large ears turning its head. Another cat, a fluffy tabby and white cat, sleeps peacefully on a wall-mounted wooden shelf. Heather continues speaking.
Heather Wilson: I also have three typical cats and then I have four small dogs.
The video cuts to a gray Sphynx cat snuggles with a long-haired tabby cat on a patterned blanket. A small, scruffy brown dog with large, dark eyes looks up expectantly and licks its lips. The small brown dog with an orange collar sits on the floor near the pink Sphynx cat.
Heather Wilson: They don't judge, and they love you and they don't care that I can't move, and they don't care that, you know, I look a little different.
In a living room, several small dogs and a hairless cat play on the wooden floor as Heather navigates into the room in her power wheelchair.
Heather Wilson: They keep me going. My diagnosis is spinal muscular atrophy.
A blue banner with white text appears on screen.
On-screen text: Heather Wilson
UnitedHealthcare member
Heather Wilson: I have very, very limited movement.
The video cuts to a close-up of the wheels of her power chair moving across the floor. In an interview shot, Heather, a woman with shoulder-length reddish-purple hair, speaks. In a close-up, her finger rests on the small joystick of her chair's controller.
Heather Wilson: I drive my power chair with my thumbs. I can feel everything. I have complete sensation.
The video cuts to Heather using a long metal stylus held in her mouth to tap on a smartphone that is mounted on a flexible arm attached to her chair.
Heather Wilson: I always tell people that mosquitoes are my worst enemy. Nothing like having an itch that you can't scratch. So…
Jennifer Baumgardner: Hey, Heather.
Heather Wilson: Hi!
The video cuts to a woman with long brown hair, Jennifer, entering Heather's home and is greeted by two small, excited dogs. In the living room, another woman sits on a couch holding the pink Sphynx cat while Heather sits in her wheelchair.
Heather Wilson: Before Jennifer, I was losing hope. Every step I took, I had to jump through so many hoops before I could just get the basic, most simple things.
A blue banner with white text appears on screen.
On-screen text: Jennifer Baumgardner
UnitedHealthcare Care Coordinator
Jennifer Baumgardner: We're coming on to 10 years, I think, which is kind of unusual, but Heather and I work well together. She's... she's always said, "You can't leave me," so I can't leave her. I was assigned to her county, and I showed up on her doorstep with my little computer and my little lanyard and said, "Hi, I'm your new care coordinator."
Jennifer and Heather are sitting at a wooden kitchen table, talking. Jennifer is in a chair, and Heather is in her power wheelchair.
Jennifer Baumgardner: And then we talked about what we were doing and what my role was with helping her, provide services to those people who are on Medicaid who want to receive services in their home rather than being in a nursing facility. Having the ability in my job to navigate them to people who can provide specialty services to them.
Heather Wilson: Next week I go to my podiatrist for my feet.
The video cuts to Jennifer holding a gray and white Sphynx cat. Then to an individual shot of Jennifer interviewing.
Jennifer Baumgardner: Being able to facilitate that helps people to live much healthier, be able to stay at home with their families and their pets.
Heather Wilson: Being at home, being free to be a part of my community is... I mean, that's priceless. One of the first things I... I think about is my… my animals. Who would take them and love them the way I do?
Heather and Jennifer are interviewing at a table. On Heather's arm, a tattoo of a semicolon and the words "be happy" are visible.
Jennifer Baumgardner: Heather has a lot of things that are a little bit outside of your norm. She's a little outside the box when it comes to her needs and her services.
Heather Wilson: She made it more about "we." What can we do to make this work for you? And made me feel like we were a team.
The video cuts to a sign on the wall that reads, “dream”. Then another that reads, “stars”. And a third that reads, “You are Beautiful inside & out.”
Heather Wilson: She's very positive. She's seen me go through some really dark times. She gifted me with a bracelet that was hers, and I wear it on days where I'm struggling.
A close-up reveals a silver bracelet on Heather's wrist that reads, “You are a diamond, dear. They cannot break you.”
Heather Wilson: It says, "You're a diamond, dear, they cannot break you." I don't want to do this with anybody else. I love Jennifer. She's my friend.
Jennifer smiles warmly at Heather, and Heather returns the smile. The video dissolves to a white screen with a blue UHC logo. Blue text appears on screen. The music fades.
On-screen text: UHC
uhc.com