SPECIAL HONORS: Receptionist
Clarissa Jackson (Photo by Jay Paul)
Clarissa Jackson welcomes patients to Henrico Doctors’ Hospital as if she is welcoming them into her own home. For the past 14 years, she’s worked at the hospital’s registration desk, setting patients at ease as they’re being admitted for everything from heart surgery to having a baby.
“People here are nervous,” says Kelly McAdams, a nurse practitioner. “People don’t know where to go. She’s the first person they see in the hospital. With Clarissa, it’s always going to be a good experience.”
McAdams manages the valve program in cardiology at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital. She has known Jackson for 10 years and worked closely with her for the past two years. “She does a lot for me,” says McAdams. “She gets the patients ready to head to the valve clinic, and sometimes it’s very last-minute. She’s organized and prompt.”
Jackson regularly walks patients to their appointments and makes them feel welcome and calm.
“She’s so pleasant all the time,” McAdams says. “I see her getting up from her desk to show patients where to go all the time, even though it’s not her job to do that.”
Jackson also extends herself to support families as they receive bad news. A simple touch on the shoulder can make all the difference, she says. She calmly listens to patients and their families when they need someone the most.
Some patients return again and again to the hospital for treatment. Those who have found comfort with Jackson will wait to be registered by her. Other former patients stop by just to say, “Hi.”
“You meet so many different people,” Jackson says. “There are those that you just can’t forget.”
One patient asked Jackson to sing at both his mother’s and father’s funerals. He also brings his children in to visit with her.
“If you’re not a people person, don’t do it,” Jackson says about her job. “I get such great gratitude from helping someone and then knowing for sure that I helped them.”
Jackson’s compassion isn’t the only thing that makes her great at her job. It’s the ability to act quickly and to learn. Over the years, Jackson has built a growing vocabulary of basic medical terms. “When you come across situations and you need to think fast, stuff like that helps everyone,” she says.
She also has to make sure she stays on top of ever-morphing insurance policies and regulations. Like a shepherd, she helps navigate patients through the complicated processes of billing and insurance.
“Even though I’ve been here for quite some time, I didn’t mind learning from other people,” she says. “We’re all a work in progress.”
