Grow With Us: Meredith Phillips-Woodard

We continue our TidalHealth series “Grow With Us” and our August visit with Meredith Phillips-Woodard, Social Work Navigator with the Allen Cancer Center at TidalHealth Nanticoke.

Meredith’s connection with TidalHealth goes back to 1996 when, as a social work intern in her senior year at then-Salisbury State University, she was given the opportunity to train in the Case Management Department at the Seaford hospital.

Monthly, we’ll introduce you to team members, like Meredith, who began their career at TidalHealth and advanced in the health system and beyond, and/or who have taken their careers to the next level with significant certifications and achievements.

We’re always looking for people to profile. Send your thoughts and ideas to our Strategic Communications Director at [email protected].

Here’s Meredith’s “Grow With Us” story.

Thanks, Meredith, for the opportunity to grab a few minutes from your busy schedule and to learn more about your career at TidalHealth. Before we dive into that, introduce yourself to our readers by telling us about where you’re from, where you grew up, what brings you happiness in life…you know, the good stuff!

I grew up outside Millsboro, Delaware. My husband and I have two college-aged children that we love spending time with. I enjoy boating, walking in nature, almost anything involving the water, playing pickleball and line dancing. I believe God gives us all talents to use in life and if you use your God-given talent, it will bring you joy.

Perfectly said! As someone who began his career, like you, after a successful internship, I’d like to know more about yours, and—in particular—because I understand that the team wasn’t “overly enthusiastic” at that time to have this kid from college join them?

That’s true. There was a bit of apprehension initially. I spent most of the first semester on the psychiatric floor performing biopsychosocial assessments and running groups on self-esteem and self-care. Then, I spent time working in the ER and all the floors of the hospital talking with patients, setting up aftercare and giving emotional support.

You must have WOW’ed them, right?

I guess I did something that gave them the impression that they should give me a chance. I am thankful to Marilyn Searcey for taking me on as a student.

You graduated from what is now Salisbury University (SU) in 1997, you worked in the private sector for a few months and in November, you got the call to join then-Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in what was at the time the Resource Management Department. Excited?

I was beyond elated. I really enjoyed my time at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital and there was so much more there to do and learn. Every day is still something new and a new opportunity to learn and grow.

I love what you told me that you took “every opportunity that came your way.” Talk about positioning yourself for success early.

I believe I was a positive entity, and I would help my teammates. I believed in doing good for all people and tried to emulate that way of work.

And, along the way, you picked up a number of certifications that really established the foundation of your career path.

I was able to earn my McKesson Utilization Reviewer for InterQual criteria to justify patient stays to their insurance companies. I became a Certified Mental Health Screener for the State of Delaware to help with psychiatric detainments and I earned the Accredited Case Manager Certification. All these certifications helped me grow in my role. Some of my past supervisors, like Mary Beth Waide and Janan McElroy, really encouraged certifications and education opportunities.

Fast forward to 1999, you go back to school to earn your Master's in Social Work at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. However, you don’t stop working which creates quite a busy schedule.

Yes, it was a very busy time. I would go to class all day on Mondays in Baltimore and work my full-time schedule Tuesday through Friday. Of course, every night and weekend was spent reading, studying and writing papers. I am always amazed at the fortitude of many healthcare workers who have a goal to further their education and achieve it.

So, congratulations on that degree and the commitment put into it, but to really excel in social work, you realize you have to get licensed. Tell me about that process.

If you want to counsel people, you must earn/obtain your LCSW/LCSW-C. In Delaware, that equates to 3,200 clinical hours supervised by another LCSW and you meet weekly for supervision/case discussions. I knew that I wanted to do more 1:1 work in the future. Therefore, I worked on this process and then had to be approved by the Board of Social Work to sit for the national exam. There was a lot of studying, and thankfully I passed. I am so appreciative to Kathy Naugle for being my supervisor during this time as she would come and meet with me during her lunch hour.

This is another of those skill sets that I really admire in you… You took that experience to nearly every department at TidalHealth Nanticoke where you assisted the teams there with your social work talents.

Yes, I even had the chance to use my talents in home health and nursing homes earlier in my career. I believe social work’s core values bring a lot to a team. You must start where the client/patient is, empower patients, and respect the dignity of the patient. Healthcare is so fast-moving, and patients don’t have time to process everything that is happening.

So true! Later in your career, you become the Case Management Manager. You helped Nanticoke Memorial build its Cerner EMR earlier in your career and helped with the EPIC transition, you led the team through COVID and the new partnership with TidalHealth, and you came to really understand the value and the importance of teamwork.

Yes, personally and professionally, I don’t believe any of us would have gotten through the COVID crisis without teamwork and communication. Our team was amazing with all the changes of procedures during COVID and adapting. Then to add the EPIC transition and new partnership with TidalHealth, whew!

However, what never escaped you was that love of working directly with patients and those “one-on-one” experiences that led you back to your current role as Social Work Navigator at the Allen Cancer Center.

Yes, one of my past co-workers from Case Management, Terri Clifton, called me to say that she was retiring from the Allen Cancer Center and informed me of the opportunity that was coming available. She was another great mentor of mine.

Speaking of mentors, a name that came up in our chat was Lisa Barnes, who is the “bar” for social work at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional and has been for quite some time. I know Lisa had a great influence on your life and now you’re both in oncology on the same team, again, and working together.

Things have come full circle since I am now working with Lisa in Oncology. When I was in college trying to decide on a career path, and after meeting with Lisa, who then worked in Case Management at PRMC, I decided that social work was the career I wanted to pursue.

I also love what you have to say about working with your patients and how that inspires you.

I really love meeting one-on-one with patients; counseling them, helping them through tough times, assisting them with financial needs and just being loving and supportive. I can give them time and attention to whatever their needs and concerns are, and they are as much of a blessing to me as I am to them.

Get you out on this one Meredith, if you could go back and do it all over again, would you change anything?

There is a country song by Morgan Evans and a quote by country singer, Jelly Roll that talks about there is a reason “the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror.”  If you spend time looking back in regret, you will miss what is right in front of you. You will never accomplish all the present and future has to offer. This is a great mantra to live by, as there is always a reason for the timing of things in life.