Two SOURCE representatives in Perry receive statewide honor for their service

PERRY, Ga. — Two representatives of Perry’s Crossroads Community SOURCE, a statewide medical waiver program providing hands-on assistance to Medicaid members with disabilities, were recently awarded for years of service to their patients at the annual Georgia Health Care Association (GHCA) SOURCE Awards Ceremony in Atlanta.

Case Manager Shiron Phelps of Perry received the SOURCE Case Manager Nurse of the Year, and Clinical Case Manager Danelle Newberry of Warner Robins received the GHCA SOURCE Support Staff Award.

Phelps said she has been involved with the long-term care and nursing industries for 33 years, and she appreciates the opportunity to make her patients feel special.

She acts as her agency’s training case manager, assisting all clinical case managers with coaching, counseling and exploring options to better serve the needs of a particular member and their family.

“It just made me feel like what I’m doing is working; it’s fulfilling,” Phelps said. “I don’t have to do it; I get to do it, and it’s a privilege to work in this type of environment.”

Giving back to her patients’ demographic reminds her of maintaining the well being of her own parents as they age, she added.

“[We’re] just making sure that they’re healthy, they’re being taken care of,” Phelps said. “Some of this stuff that we do is we’re making sure that their environment is safe, and they can stay home alone or with other family members — and that they’re eating, that their skin looks good.”

Crossroads Community SOURCE of Perry competes with larger case management companies in other locations across the state, such as Atlanta and Albany.

“It’s a privilege to be granted such an opportunity to represent the company that I work for because our company is really built on integrity and honesty,” Phelps said. “So, it was just a reflection of the management that I work under. It’s kind of like the training they gave you, you gave back to them.”

Newberry works as senior clinical case manager alongside Phelps at Crossroads Community SOURCE in Perry, serving as a nurse and policy/procedure informer and teacher.

She guides and directs clinical case managers in policy changes and updating paperwork, along with managing the logistics of her clinical case manager team.

“We assist people in the community to stay in the community,” Newberry said. “Our goal is to keep them out of the nursing home as long as possible.”

“So with that being said, I am also a nurse. So, I assess patients, I assess their needs, work with the families to get the services in the home that they need, such as aids, services or home-delivered meals.”

Newberry said she coordinates the assignments of 10 nurses there at the Perry SOURCE location, among other assignments.

“I make sure we maintain Medicaid standards, and I make sure that we’re providing adequate services to our members of the community,” she said. “I make sure those services are delivered as ordered, and that we’re being diligent with Medicaid funds.”

Receiving the award was ‘just a blessing,’ Newberry added.

“Sometimes you work, and you work — and what you do goes unnoticed,” Newberry said. “So, it was just good to be noticed and for people to appreciate what I do to serve the community.”

Todd Sichelstiel, Crossroads Community SOURCE program manager, said he nominated Newberry and Phelps for the awards back in December; they went on to be awarded in February.

“These people are case managers, and what they do is make sure that the aid goes into the house because the state is paying for it [the service],” Sichelstiel said. “They act more like an advocate for them [the patients].”

The SOURCE program is represented in 29 counties across the state, he added.

“Some people [require] nursing home level of care, but they can stay home — maybe they need somebody to do light housekeeping for them, do some laundry for them, make them a couple of meals,” Sichelstiel said. The Crossroads Community SOURCE office is located at 1203 Ball Street in Perry. Contact them by calling (478) 224-6677.

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