Ann-Marie Cools: Flavoring Lives at Grace

Ann-Marie Cools, Grace’s new Community Nutritionist, first learned about the job opening from her sister, Samantha Cools Bermudez, our staff attorney with Medical Legal Partnership. “She spoke so highly of her experience with the Grace team and patients, that I was eager to apply,” recalls Ann-Marie. “It was divine timing as I had just moved back to Orlando.”

 Ann-Marie’s interest in nutrition developed at a young age due to her severe allergies. “I remember how much time and energy it took for my parents to find nutritious foods and therapies that helped alleviate my ailments,” shared Ann-Marie. “Thankfully, I come from a family of great cooks who like to experiment with a variety of ingredients.”

 While studying dietetics and nutrition at Florida International University, she learned there are a multitude of ways to create a balanced lifestyle and that “one size does not fit all.” “I began to appreciate how healthy food choices make a huge impact on people’s lives,” Ann-Marie said.

 “As a nutritionist/dietitian, we’re often labelled as the ‘food police,’” Ann-Marie said. “Many think our food preferences are boiled chicken, carrots and salad - all bland and unappealing. Healthy food doesn’t have to be boring or bland. It’s a great way to experiment with fresh ingredients and different flavors.”

 “What I love most about nutrition is being able to spread messages that inspire people to feel as good as they can through food, and how to achieve that in a sustainable way,” Ann-Marie concluded.

National Grant Generates Important Quality Improvement Initiative

Grace Medical Home has been chosen by the Americares Foundation, Inc. as one of only nine clinic recipients of their Roadmap Addressing Disparities in Health Outcomes quality improvement grant.

“Grace Medical Home continually strives to improve our clinical operations with a proven track record of success,” said Stephanie Garris, Grace’s CEO. “This $30,000 grant will be a driving force to undertake a new quality improvement initiative focusing on Diabetes, particularly poor control of Hemoglobin A1C. While we review this outcome annually, we have never stratified the data to identify racial or ethnic disparities, until now. The data shows that our African American patients face a disparity in controlling or preventing diabetes. This grant will provide the resources and incentives to undertake an initiative to address this disparity.”

Specifically, the data shows that diabetic African Americans have a greater likelihood of having poor diabetes control (an A1C greater than 9%), with 29% of African Americans in this category, compared with 21% poor control of our Hispanic patients and 23% of our white patients. Our clinicians prefer our diabetic patients to be in the 7.0 to 8.9 range, so that is the goal for improvement as we work to eliminate this disparity. Additionally, African-American patients have pre-diabetes at disparately high rates. In a large sample of our adult patients who are not diagnosed with diabetes, 35% had A1c results in the pre-diabetic range. Unfortunately, a higher percentage of African American patients in this sample with 44% in the pre-diabetic range.

 Targeted intervention with our diabetic and prediabetic African American patients will include a multidisciplinary team, led by our staff nutritionist, Ann Marie Cools, who has extensive knowledge in providing nutrition education in culturally-sensitive ways, Dr. Sherry Brooks, Medical Director, Dr. John Sanderson, Assistant Medical Director, Stephanie Garris, Chief Executive Officer, Nirvana Muniz, Director of Behavioral Health, and Sara Sullivan, Data and Evaluations consultant.

Dan The Man Navigates With Grace

Volunteer Navigator, Dan Jeffers, interacts with patients at Grace.

Nearly every Wednesday, following devotion at Grace, shouts of “Dan The Man” echo throughout the Welcome Room. Staff and visitors alike recognize and thank a mainstay at Grace – Volunteer Navigator, Dan Jeffers, affectionately known as “Dan The Man.”

Upon retirement from a 35-year career in medical sales, Dan was looking for a volunteer opportunity to serve others. He learned about Grace from Trustee Rick Fletcher’s daughter, Arden Magee, in October 2019 and he has been volunteering consistently ever since.

Though his official volunteer role is as a Navigator, cheerfully escorting patients to the appropriate area in our facility, he willingly wears many hats. From serving as a “roadie” assisting fellow volunteer, Dr. John Fleming, by setting up Dr. Fleming’s keyboard on days he provides musical accompaniment, to serving as joke translator for Pastor Omar, part-time baby rocker and upstairs coffee maker, he lends a hand wherever and whenever he is needed. “I really enjoy making our patients smile or laugh, especially the little ones,” said Dan.

Dan shared, “This place is such a soothing place. I am amazed at the incredible compassion, respect, and heart that the entire staff show towards our patients. Grace is an incredible community, everyone in the building conveys God’s positive spirit. I have never experienced a kinder, more positive environment than Grace’s.”

If you are here on Wednesday mornings, join in our celebration and appreciation of Dan The Man.