When Jessica asked her primary care provider for help last spring, she wasn't looking for another specialist. She was looking for someone who could help her keep track of all the specialists she already had.

Between managing multiple chronic conditions, a growing list of prescriptions, and the challenges that come with ADHD, the logistics of her own healthcare had become paralyzing. Prescription refills were lapsing, referrals were going unfollowed, and the volume of what needed attention was, in Jessica's words, "horrifyingly impressive."

"It was all starting to get overwhelming, and just keeping track of everything was so much," Jessica said. "I was frozen. I couldn't continue with all the stuff that I needed to take care of."

When her primary care provider told Jessica about Waymark, she was immediately interested. "I figured, if there was a chance at getting some help, I'd take it, even if it was only for a couple of things."

Jessica's doctor put in a referral, and soon after, Jessica got a phone call from a pharmacy technician on Waymark's team who helped her set up auto-refills for her medications through Walgreens, solving the most immediate crisis. Then Patricia, one of Waymark's Washington-based community health workers (CHW), called to talk about everything else.

There was a lot of everything else.

A Full Plate, and Then Some

Jessica had moved to Washington from South Carolina the previous year after her sister intervened, worried about Jessica's health and her lack of access to care. In South Carolina, Jessica had fallen into a gap familiar to many Medicaid-eligible adults in non-expansion states: she earned too much to qualify for the state's Medicaid program but not enough to afford private insurance through her employer. She went without coverage entirely.

Her move to Washington changed that. Through Apple Health, Jessica gained access to comprehensive coverage she had been missing for years. But coverage alone didn't resolve the backlog. By the time she connected with Waymark, she was also helping her ill father, navigating the process of moving her adult son into a permanent assisted living residence, and managing a severe lupus flare.

"Having Patricia helped me advocate for myself in literally every way," Jessica said. "If anything, she helped me stay on track. She kept me from wandering off topic, which I am prone to."

"She had a lot going on with her father, a new move across the country, and an adult high-needs son," Patricia added. "She's done amazingly well considering everything she had going on."

After their first meeting, Patricia helped Jessica renew lapsed referrals for endocrinology and cardiology. The cardiology referral led to a diagnosis of POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). A rheumatology visit confirmed degenerative osteoarthritis in her spine and added fibromyalgia to her chart. Neurology and ophthalmology appointments followed. Each one moved Jessica closer to a complete clinical picture of what her body had been telling her for decades.

One of the most significant goals was getting approved for breast reduction surgery. Patricia helped Jessica convey her symptoms and navigate the approval process. The surgical team approved her with one remaining condition: bringing her weight below 220 pounds. Jessica, Patricia, and her primary care provider are now working on a plan that includes dietary changes, gym access, and a medication to help manage appetite.

"She is a gold star patient," Patricia said. "She took whatever enthusiasm we had and just took off with it."

"I'm Glad Waymark Knows the Connections to Make When I Don't"

Jessica is also navigating the Social Security disability appeals process. After receiving her first denial, she filed an appeal on her own. Patricia connected her with Medicaid-covered legal advocacy resources she hadn't known existed.

"I'm glad Waymark knows the connections to make when I don't," said Jessica. "It's one of those things where you don't even know what kind of help exists, let alone how to ask for it."

Jessica also began working with Katie, one of Waymark's therapists, to address the mental health dimensions of what she was carrying. The sessions helped Jessica understand how patterns from her childhood have impacted the way she moves through life now.

"It sounds so silly, but one of the exercises she gave me has really helped me put into perspective how I treat myself versus how I think about myself," Jessica said. "She gave me the exercise of serving myself at dinner before anyone else. And every once in a while, I'll do that. I would've chided myself for being selfish before, but Katie and I talked it through and that instinct is so much better now."

"Before Waymark, Anything Medical Was Scary and Ambivalent and a Chore"

A year into her work with Waymark, Jessica's relationship with her own healthcare has shifted. She arrives at appointments organized and ready to advocate for herself.

"I've gotten compliments on just how well organized I am, which is the biggest thing," she said. "Because being ADHD and the scatterbrain that I am, being organized is not a norm. That would not be there without Waymark."

That team, and the access to care that Washington's Medicaid program made possible, is what Jessica credits with putting her on a different trajectory than the women in her family who came before her. Her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother all died in their mid-60s.

"My goal is to live longer than my mom did," Jessica said. "Doing this, taking care of myself, understanding how chronic illness is affecting me, and learning how to work with it instead of fighting against it: that's what's going to really do it for me."

Jessica has also noticed a shift in how she feels about medical care itself.

"Before, anything medical was scary and ambivalent and a chore," she said. "Now I look forward to my appointments because I know I have an understanding of what I'm going into. I have a good rapport with the people that are helping me. And the understanding is, we're all a team to help me be a better me."

When asked what she would want other members of her community to know about Waymark, Jessica didn't hesitate.

"You guys make it easy," she said. "It gets back to having a team in your corner. If you get sort of ground down and you hit a wall, you guys are great for helping scale that wall."

"I think if more people knew that Waymark existed, I think that would benefit a lot of people," she added. "Knowledge is power. And having easy access to that knowledge, and the advocacy to do better for yourself, it just makes a difference."