2024 Difference Maker: How Danah Brandel is making healthcare more accessible

(Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer)

Danah Brandel has spent 28 years as a member of the Saint Francis Healthcare System. She began in food services and promptly weaved her way through roles as business office cashier, business office lead and patient financial services manager. She’s now in charge of patient access, playing a leadership role in creating systems for patients to better connect to services.

“I graduated high school, and my parents were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, what is she gonna do?’” Brandel said. “I told them I was going to be a truck driver, just to scare them. But I found the job in the cafeteria, and I thought, ‘You know what, this is a home, and it's steady.’”

Brandel describes the environment at Saint Francis as a family, noting it’s difficult to find a more apt description, given the healthcare systems’ ability to provide for all aspects of life. With at least 3,000 individuals working at the hospital, there are always people in need, and people ready to give back. With Saint Francis serving more than 715,000 members of a five-state community, the importance of a stable presence in the medical field is, as Brandel describes it, “paramount”.

Through implementing a robust online presence, Brandel widened the scope of giving back to the local community by lowering the barrier for requesting help. The online system increased the available slots, by providing timely assistance and aiding those through self-scheduling appointments.

“Everybody has some issues, but nobody wants to pick up the phone and admit they have an issue and ask for that help,” Brandel said. “So an online option for patients is paramount because it's so much easier to pick up the phone and find a provider and make an appointment than having to call somebody.”

Brandel is currently working with a third-party organization to find ways to make the insurance authorization process faster and easier. Another program will utilize a two-way text-based messaging system for appointment details, ideally keeping the same level of care in over-the-phone scheduling but in a fraction of the time. There’s no end to Brandel’s desire to provide, and Brandel wants people to know that Saint Francis has the same sentiments.

“The literature in the publications [states that] patients want a digital front door,” Brandel said. “And it doesn't matter if it’s patients, [because] consumers want a digital front door, and we could build the things to get them in place.”

The crux of any service industry, especially the medical field, involves meeting people where they are. Brandel prioritizes service in all aspects of life, from building her son’s house with her husband to volunteering with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program. A recent article posted in the Southeast Missourian shows Brandel attending an art event with her “little sister” at the local Artistically Ever After community space – another way Brandel enjoys connecting with her local community. Dedicated to helping others, Brandel finds balance through her faith and family.

“I wake up about four o'clock, and that's when I have my time with God,” Brandel said. “So that's when you go down the list, the ‘here's what I'm thankful for,’ or ‘here's what I need help with,’ and He's always there.”

Threading the love for connection between the one-to-one and the hundreds of thousands of patients in the five-state region is a formidable task. With Brandel, it’s simply who she is, who she is wired to be, no matter the circumstance. A lifelong love for service is in her blood, and she’s here to stay.

“My drive is to help people and my drive is to love,” Brandel said.