GIA medical records clerk Gail Nipper strives to be compassionate, helpful and caring and tries to treat people as she would want to be treated. “I enjoy interaction with patients and being able to help others. I always think about who is on the other side of the counter and put myself in their shoes,” she shares.
When Gail started with GIA just over two decades ago, “we still had paper charts and pulled them a week ahead of scheduled appointments. They could be anywhere in the building from provider offices, dictation office, in the stacks … I called it ‘search and recovery!’ ”
Today, she manages digital records, sends them where they need to go and helps at the front desk in a team of five. “I love digital charts! They make my job a lot easier. And my group is like family. I enjoy my coworkers.”
She encourages others to stay up to date on checkups for overall health and colon health. “I like the way we do things for colon cancer awareness month. We wear special shirts and bracelets, for example, aimed to get people to stop and think and be aware.”
Gail also understands the importance of how patients are treated – she has been responsible for taking a family member to medical appointments – and shared a story of a repeat patient who needed extensive records. Gail handled multiple requests via phone. Later, a package arrived with a thank you card and a T-shirt. “I was just doing my job!” she said. “It’s nice to get those responses.”
Away from work, Gail is a family person who loves to spend time with her husband, son and three grandchildren. She also loves riding a Harley-Davidson with her husband through the mountains or back roads through the country. Her husband is an ordained minister and when churches were closed due to the pandemic, they would ride the motorcycle to a spot, her husband would give a devotional, and she would sing a song and add the video to Facebook to encourage those at home.
She enjoys crocheting because “it’s peaceful” and also reading Christian fiction books and going to the beach. “I like to experience nature and take in God’s creation. I like the pictures that God paints – such as sunsets. We live in such a hurry, hurry, hurry world. In a recent devotional at church, the author encouraged us to take time to slow down and enjoy the small things.” It is good advice for all!