Someone Cares

Leameso (Lea) James works in the Georgia Department of Community Health’s (DCH) Program Integrity section, and answers Medicaid fraud and abuse hotline calls. For Lea, solving problems over the phone is not new. However, last summer, she took a call that was not routine.

Lea received a phone call from a member who was overwhelmed by recent personal events in her life. The woman was newly widowed and a recent confrontation with her son-in-law caused a rift between her and her terminally ill daughter. In addition, she expressed that her current doctor was not properly communicating with her. The woman was frightened and told Lea she was tired of living. Through her sobs, she proclaimed, "I am ready to die."

Lea immediately took action when she heard the woman’s desperation. She explained that there was no reason for her to die because of difficult times. Lea flagged down her managers at DCH and contacted a psychiatrist to assist her with the situation.

While on the phone, Lea started the process of finding a new doctor for the woman. She stayed on the line with her until she heard her mood begin to lift. Before the woman was ready to hang up, Lea heard her exclaim, "I wish everyone had as great listening skills as you do—and had as big a heart." Because of her tenacity and caring, Lea helped the woman avert suicide.

"I made a commitment to find out if she would seriously hurt herself," Lea said, "but I would have stayed on the phone with her all night if she’d have needed to do that."

Several weeks later, the woman phoned Lea again and thanked her for her help. She said she was much happier with her new doctor and she had begun to resurrect her relationship with her daughter.

"I don’t know what I would have done without you," the member told Lea. "When you took all that time talking to me, it reminded me that someone cares."