Care Advocate & Financial Patient Advocacy Lead
Sarah Jane is a Care Advocate and Master’s level registered nurse with experience managing complex medical cases and navigating in-hospital services. In addition, she runs our Patient Financial Advocacy program.
Sarah Jane’s background as an ICU and ER nurse gives her special insight to support multifaceted health challenges. Her experience as a hospital administrator provides a solid foundation navigating the “behind the scenes” complexities of the entire healthcare system including communicating with medical personnel in hospital settings, medical coding, insurance contracts and payment denials.
The passion to educate and empower patients drives Sarah Jane’s advocacy above all else. She envisions a world where no patient is too intimidated or ill-informed to get their medical needs met. She understands how vulnerable the process of getting the care you need can be and she strives to provide clients with the maximum amount of independence and life quality as possible.
Empathy is the single most important value to Sarah Jane. She sees the whole person, not just their physical or psychological illness, and finds the most meaning and satisfaction from leaving a situation better than the way she found it.
Fifteen years as a registered nurse have taught Sarah Jane many valuable skills. Her time at major, urban, and academic medical centers such as Harborview in Seattle and Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York City, shaped her early career with rich learning environments. Her intensive care specialization gave her advanced training in cardiothoracic resuscitation and neurological emergencies. This scientific base has been a solid foundation upon which to lay disease specific program management experience, hospital quality leadership training, and strategic relationship building skills. Sarah Jane holds great pride in having led Virginia Mason Medical Center’s efforts to achieve a Comprehensive Stroke Center certification from its regulatory body. She also supported the early creation of a telemedicine program at the same medical center.
Sarah Jane holds a Bachelor’s in Science (BS) from Seattle Pacific University and a Master’s degree (MS) in Biology from Central Connecticut State University. Through her career she has earned additional certifications and honors including: the Mary McClinton Patient Safety Award in 2018, Stroke Certified Registered Nurse (SCRN®), and the Critical Care RN Certification (CCRN®). In 2019 she became a published author in the Journal of Stroke & Cerebrovascular Disease. Her research covered quality of care differences for stroke patients in the hospital setting.
When not working for her clients, Sarah Jane enjoys a day at the beach with her husband and young children. She is also an avid listener of every true crime podcast that has ever been made.. In her previous life, before toddlers, she traveled extensively and looks forward to when she can head out on new adventures again.