#storiesthatmatter: Maneuvering care after trauma

For many who have chosen a career in healthcare, their work is more than a job — it’s personal.

Next from Stories That Matter: We’re teaming up with our partners at Horizon Therapeutics to spotlight Horizon employees whose personal experiences within the healthcare system have uniquely equipped them for their careers.

As a patient access manager at Horizon, Dorelia Rivera spends each day helping people navigate the healthcare system. But following an unexpected trauma, she found herself overwhelmed by the complexities of trying to coordinate care for her daughter, while she was still trying to heal herself.

“Healthcare is really complicated. There are [already] a lot of layers that come with healthcare, but when you have a loved one with a special healthcare need — in my case, it’s a daughter with a rare disease — it complicates things quite a bit more.”

At Horizon, Dorelia helps patients navigate the complexities and hurdles of their rare disease — but it’s also what she does every day at home. Dorelia’s daughter, 14-year-old Kayla, lives with Neonatal-onset Multisystem Inflammatory Disease or NOMID which causes inflammation of the body from the inside out. Kayla is only one of 67 known cases in the world. Dorelia intimately understands what it means to fight for a rare disease diagnosis and proper treatment.

“Being a patient access manager and having a daughter with a rare disease brings my two worlds together in a positive way. I’m able to put myself in the parent’s and the patient’s shoes and treat them how I know I’d want to be treated.”

This interview is part of a series we’re working on with Horizon. Watch Horizon director of patient advocacy B.J. Viau share his own story here.