Community Health Improvement – Rewarding & Important Work

Registered Nurse Sharon Decato, Case Manager at RRMC, talks about her 50+ year career in medicine and the important work of the Community Health Improvement team.

June is Community Health Improvement month and I was asked to reflect on my 50-year career at Rutland Regional Medical Center to share why I do this work.

My long tenure at RRMC began after my graduation from VTSU Castleton in 1976. Since then I have held many positions here and was proud to be the “first” nurse to help develop and assist with many programs initiated at RRMC. As head nurse on Radial 3 my focus was to develop the first oncology unit with Dr. John Wallace and in 1990, the Foley Cancer Center was opened. I then became the first Radiation Oncology nurse while also cross-training as a chemotherapy treatment nurse. When UVM brought the Comprehensive Care clinic to RRMC I became the first HIV nurse for that clinic and in 1999, I moved to inpatient case management, becoming the first oncology case manager, a position I held for the next 12 years.

In 2011, I was the first nurse hired to the Community Health Improvement Team at RRMC as the adult nurse case manager. The Community Health Improvement team assists with the coordination of care across multiple health related organizations to help patients at home, in the doctor’s office, and during the transition between care sites. The work we do is funded by the Blueprint for Health, which is part of the Vermont Agency of Human Services.

In the past 14 years the Community Health Team has continued to grow and expand services and supports to the community through our visiting home practices. We work closely with all community agencies to identify gaps in services, address Social Determinants of Health needs, assist patients’ access to healthcare, and improve the health and wellness of Rutland County residents.

In the past year we identified a gap in assisting and supporting our community members through the journey of end of life care planning. To meet the need, we advocated to pilot a new aspect of the Blueprint Program, and earlier this year we began to provide supports and resources to the community regarding palliative care coordination.  

I am now the first nurse to provide outpatient palliative care coordination for RRMC. My goal is to help individuals, families, and caregivers as early as possible, to gain insight and knowledge when facing life with a chronic health condition or serious illness, so that they can experience their final journey in life the way they choose.

Doing this work is a privilege and I consider it an honor to be with people to share their final moments, listen to their final wishes, and help facilitate their wishes for them and for their loved ones.

If you are interested in or have a need for any of this work, you can find  excellent resources to help you complete an advance directive, learn about a living will, and explore other legal documents at the Vermont Ethics Network website: https://www.vtethicsnetwork.org/forms. You can also contact experts at the Community Health Improvement team at 802.776.5502 or email the team..

Making your end of life wishes known provides peace of mind to those who care about you the most.

By Sharon Decato, RN, BSN, CCM, Case Manager, Community Health Improvement, Rutland Regional Medical Center