Joanna Ignatiades, Care Coordinator, CHOICE MLTC Care Management

Helping to Keep CHOICE Members Safely at Home

Growing up in Jackson Heights, Queens, Joanna Ignatiades had a childhood dream of becoming a nurse. Today, as a Nurse Care Coordinator with VNSNY CHOICE’s Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) health plan, she helps CHOICE members remain healthy and independent by providing phone support and care management. This includes everything from making sure members know what benefits are available to them, to securing doctor’s appointments and arranging for services such as Meals on Wheels and enrollment in adult day care centers. Like all of the120-plus Care Coordinators at CHOICE, she is a problem-solver.  “One thing I love about it is that I’m able to build long-term relationships with the members I serve,” says Joanna.

“Joanna is dedicated to her members and follows up promptly and creatively, developing individualized plans and interventions for them,” says her ESPRIT nomination. “She strivesto ensure the best care is delivered to her members…and manages many complex and complicated members. She can be relied upon to accept a challenging member that another staff member may be experiencing as a struggle.” Joanna is also known for her ability to work with difficult family members who may be obstructing the member’s plan of care, engaging them in positive fashion to come up with a workable solution.

Among her many skills, Joanna also speaks Greek, which is a special boon when she’s supporting members of New York’s Greek-American community. It’s all part of her job, she says, and that job comes down to meeting one basic need: “CHOICE members rely on us to help keep them safely at home.”