Health engagement nurse helps promote critical preventive care
Health engagement nurse provides onsite support
Step into a Metro garage in Cincinnati, Ohio, and you’ll feel it right away – the fast-paced, buzzing energy of a staff focused on moving the public where it needs to go. Serving over 50,000 riders a day, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), also known as Metro, is a lifeline for the community.
It’s a responsibility Metro doesn’t take lightly, and one that takes a well-oiled machine to operate. The more than 1,200 Metro employees, made up of mostly bus drivers and mechanics, need to be cared for in the same way. Health and well-being are a top priority because without it, the whole system breaks down.
“A healthy workforce is fundamental to our success,” said Andy Aiello, deputy general manager for Cincinnati Metro. “Our operators and our maintenance team are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They need support to make sure that they can stay healthy.”
That’s where Allison Connors comes in. Affectionately known as “Nurse Allison,” she’s a UnitedHealthcare Health Engagement Nurse for Metro, a position she’s held for the last three years. In that time, she’s gotten to know Metro employees on a personal level and sees the impact of the work she’s doing firsthand.
“A health engagement nurse is a helper, and a communicator. We come onsite and get to help people navigate a complex health care system,” Allison said. “We simplify the terms that are really hard for people to understand. Sometimes health insurance and medical jargon is a foreign language. I get to come in and make that easy for people.”
As Metro operates all hours of the day, so does Allison. She’s worked to make her schedule flexible to meet the needs of Metro employees. Her role is to be embedded with the employees where they are, even if that means riding buses to understand their day-to-day.
She helps employees prioritize their health, whether that’s finding a primary care doctor, staying on top of screenings or navigating a difficult diagnosis.
“When you get that diagnosis, you don't know what to do,” Allison said, “And thankfully, with the flexibility of the health engagement nurse, I was able to go to his first couple appointments to sit with him, to really understand what treatment was going look like.”
“I love being able to hold their hand and say, ‘Hey, we got this.’”
For Gene Mays, division manager at Cincinnati Metro Access, which provides transportation to eligible members with disabilities, Allison’s been instrumental in his health care journey – helping him engage in wellness programs and stay on top of his annual check-ups.
“Words can't express how valuable Allison is,” Gene said. “She gave me the courage to begin to advocate for myself and to ask more questions when I’m at the doctor.”
Gene even began a journey with Real Appeal, a personalized, interactive online weight loss program through UnitedHealthcare. Gene said after completing the full 52-week program, he’s proud of himself and feels great.
Not only has having Allison onsite benefitted employees’ overall well-being, but it’s made an impact on Metro as a whole.
“Having an engagement nurse here who is really engaged, and committed, and is really a wellness champion has helped reduce our overall health care costs and has really made this a better place to work,” said Vicki Barker, director of human resources for Cincinnati Metro.
She said since Allison joined the team, Metro has seen fewer overall ER visits and increased preventive health care screenings from employees.
For Allison, it’s about making connections with people to help them live healthier lives and feeling immense pride in seeing that come to life.
“It takes everybody to keep Metro running to be the successful organization that the community relies on,” she said. “We need them to be healthy so I’m here to take care of them.”
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