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FEATURE STORY An integral cog in the cancer care clock How Cancer Care Coordinator Leanna Barrett is making a big impact in the cancer community Leanna Barrett shifts in her seat but remains poised and inviting as she has been for the duration of the interview.

“When I leave here," she explains, "I really have to leave work at work. I have to be fully present when I’m with my kids, and fully present when I’m at work. Work-life balance is definitely important.”

This sentiment strikes a chord with me as I scribbled in my notebook and gave an understanding head nod. A life dedicated to cancer care is one that must deal with “mentally chaotic environments,” a skill that instantly makes me envious of Leanna. She goes on about the internal support system of the hospital: “The whole program here really respects this balance. If I need a personal day to decompress, they say take it. We support each other. And that is invaluable.”

Leanna spends much of her day tucked away on the 7th floor of the Harris Tower in the cancer wing of the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital. She is the official cancer care coordinator at Texas Health, a complex and demanding position. Leanna helps guide patients and their families through the recovery process, facilitating them in finding and connecting with the resources and services they need. “My navigation helps patients find the person they need to talk to and the services they need,” she says. A process that would take “forever” without her position. “I’m kind of like a liaison for our patients,” she explains. “I send a ton of referrals.”

We then spend a few minutes joking about the painstaking process of navigating any customer service center these days. Commenting on the almost impossible task of finding an

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actual person. Leanna shares this laughable frustration, “It is comforting to be able to talk to someone that you know actually cares.” I nod and silently reflect on how true this sentiment is. If I find anger and frustration dealing with customer support for my phone, I can hardly imagine the frustrations of a cancer patient dealing with the bureaucratic nonsense of the healthcare system. According to the Cancer Institute, In today’s healthcare system, patients are “faced with complex decisions and need to negotiate two or three different treatment teams, often across different institutions and even across public and private facilities, and sometimes across metropolitan and rural settings.” These complexities make “such coordination absolutely essential to modern cancer care”.

Despite her long-term involvement in the medical field, Leanna never thought she would be where she is today. The truth is, cancer care is rarely what people anticipate doing for a career.

It is often either experience or fate that draws them into this profession.

“I didn’t know anything about the depth of cancer care and everything that goes into it,” Leanna recalls. “I was working as a nurse at the time and wanted to move up and further my career. My friend mentioned that they were looking for someone to pilot the cancer care coordinator role. I applied, and soon after, the right people noticed. I was hustling and working hard.”

Leanna then looks off into space with a reflective smile and says, “It was meant to be.”

After getting to know Leanna I couldn’t agree more. Her charismatic, bright and driven nature shines through from the moment you meet her, and her unique blend of a composed yet relaxed attitude make her the perfect fit for her role as a cancer care coordinator.

While the primary communication tactic for Leanna is a simple phone call or email, often physically distanced from the patients, she is no stranger to the personal impact of cancer.

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“My dad was diagnosed with leukemia in 2014. He came to me and said, ‘Help me figure out the steps to take,’ ” she recalls.

An ability intrinsic to her role at Texas Health, Leanna expresses how relieving and empowering it was to be able to guide her father through recovery.

“I was there to facilitate with the frustrations, without overstepping boundaries,” she says.

This is an important distinction, Leanna notes, as one of the best things for a cancer patient is a functional two-way relationship. “That’s what we try to build here.”

Leanna puts her experiences, insights and passion into everything she does, and there is no question Leanna has built some great relationships at Texas Health with both patients and colleagues. Leanna reflects on a breast cancer survivor who came back to visit and thank her, months after being declared free of the disease. "She actually thought about me,” Leanna remarks with a modesty and humility that contribute to Leanna’s credentials for her position. She does not expect praise or accolades, she finds her work to be self-rewarding and implicit in the battle against cancer.

With passionate, driven employees like Leanna, it is no wonder that Texas Health’s cancer services are considered world-class. With dozens of cutting-edge services and resources at its disposal, Texas Health provides some of the most comprehensive cancer care, drawing in patients from around the DFW Metroplex. Leanna believes their outpatient chemotherapy program and blood transfusion centers are notable resources. Further, she states, “Our interventional radiology center is pretty awesome. They are very accommodating and very efficient.” She then elaborates by explaining that these programs can handle complex cases and provide safer alternatives for cancer patients. Texas Health is further changing the game

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with innovative services such as radioembolization, or Y90, a procedure which uses small glass beads containing a radioactive isotope are inserted into blood vessels to treat liver cancer.

Before leaving, I asked Leanna about her future with Texas Health, and her response did not surprise me. Leanna wants to use her master’s degree in healthcare administration to develop a new position in the Texas Health cancer care program. She believes that the connections she has made and the family she has built at Texas Health are irreplaceable, and while she does want to move up and further her career, she isn’t leaving anytime soon.

“I love my job because we facilitate each other. This program is one of the most tightly knit groups I have ever been a part of,” she affirms while raising her hand in an optimistic gesture that in some ways reflects her Texas Health family.

As I walk out of Harris Tower into the bustling medical complex, I cannot help but feel a strange sense of comfort, knowing that Leanna is exactly where she needs to be, doing what she needs to do. It is clear that Leanna is making a difference, for the cancer care program, Texas Health, and most importantly, cancer patients and their families. She has found the balance necessary to succeed in the field of cancer care, and she is thriving in an otherwise chaotic environment. Even today, when she is not directing cancer patients around the facilities, or checking in on recovering patients, she can be found at home hanging out with her 17-yearold daughter and 9-year-old son, enjoying the little things in life.

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TWEET Check out this month’s Cancer Care Services Spotlight | Leanna Barrett | Texas Health #CancerCare #CancerCareServices #TexasHealth #FeatureStory http://bit.ly/2mzERQK

Leanna Barrett checks in on a Melanoma patient after a treatment period.

The beautiful Texas Health entrance welcomes in its patients on a sunny afternoon.

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WORKS CITED Nurse Navigators and Coordinator - Fort Worth - Tarrant County, TX. (n.d.). Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://www.texashealth.org/fortworth/Pages/Services/Cancer/Support-Services/NurseNavigators-and-Coordinator.aspx The importance of cancer care coordination. (n.d.). Retrieved March 07, 2017, from https://www.cancerinstitute.org.au/about-us/news/the-importance-of-cancer-carecoordination

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