1
00:00:00,233 --> 00:00:03,236
Keith Spells calls Angela Shuman
his angel.

2
00:00:03,403 --> 00:00:05,538
It functions as a catch-all description.

3
00:00:05,538 --> 00:00:06,873
As a Penn State Health

4
00:00:06,873 --> 00:00:10,276
community nurse, she’s
many different people wrapped into one.

5
00:00:10,777 --> 00:00:15,015
During the Thursday breakfasts at Anchor
Lancaster, a nonprofit that provides

6
00:00:15,015 --> 00:00:20,520
meals, shelter and casework for local
low-income and unsheltered populations,

7
00:00:20,987 --> 00:00:24,224
she’s a checker of blood pressure
and a giver of medicine.

8
00:00:24,791 --> 00:00:27,427
She’s a confidante, a shoulder to cry on

9
00:00:27,427 --> 00:00:30,630
and an answer for people from whom
the questions are often hard.

10
00:00:31,297 --> 00:00:33,333
Where can I turn when I’m sick?

11
00:00:33,333 --> 00:00:36,336
How can I survive another winter
without shelter?

12
00:00:36,603 --> 00:00:40,340
For the health system where she’s
worked for 22 years, Shuman is a conduit

13
00:00:40,340 --> 00:00:44,511
to health care for people who need it
desperately, but can’t always access it.

14
00:00:44,878 --> 00:00:49,716
And on a raw day in late January, Shuman
works as a stand-in for Spells’ eyes.

15
00:00:50,183 --> 00:00:54,120
Spells, a gaunt man
with a gray beard, arrives at the Anchor

16
00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,857
Lancaster office at the First United
Methodist Church on Walnut Street

17
00:00:58,024 --> 00:01:02,762
in downtown Lancaster for a hot breakfast
and a chance to shake off the cold.

18
00:01:03,396 --> 00:01:07,767
In the dining room, he stops to see
Shuman, she is stationed at a narrow

19
00:01:07,767 --> 00:01:13,139
folding table piled with medical devices,
rubber gloves and bags filled with socks.

20
00:01:13,673 --> 00:01:14,941
Spells doesn’t see

21
00:01:14,941 --> 00:01:18,445
well enough to administer
his own weekly medication for diabetes.

22
00:01:18,745 --> 00:01:23,650
So, he sits and lifts his coat for Shuman
to give him an injection into his belly.

23
00:01:24,384 --> 00:01:26,820
Next, she helps plan the week’s pills,

24
00:01:26,820 --> 00:01:30,690
using a plastic box divided into chambers
labeled for each day.

25
00:01:31,257 --> 00:01:34,260
Hopefully,
Spells will be all set for another week.

26
00:01:34,561 --> 00:01:36,496
If not, it’ll be OK.

27
00:01:36,496 --> 00:01:39,265
She’ll visit him at his apartment complex.

28
00:01:39,265 --> 00:01:40,233
Meeting your patients

29
00:01:40,233 --> 00:01:43,670
outside of the office is just what you do
when you’re a community health nurse.

30
00:01:43,970 --> 00:01:46,973
After all,
you don’t really have an office.

31
00:01:47,006 --> 00:01:50,543
Welcome to the front lines of Penn State
Health’s community outreach.

32
00:01:51,077 --> 00:01:54,380
Along with Anchor,
which offers a hot breakfast, a day

33
00:01:54,380 --> 00:01:59,185
shelter, showers and case work, Penn State
Health’s community health nurses

34
00:01:59,352 --> 00:02:03,189
help address local health disparities
one person at a time.

35
00:02:03,656 --> 00:02:06,226
Above and beyond is the job.

36
00:02:06,226 --> 00:02:09,496
In Lancaster
County, conditions can change on a dime.

37
00:02:09,996 --> 00:02:13,566
Life expectancy varies
drastically from block to block –

38
00:02:13,566 --> 00:02:17,670
veering from 67.7 to 88.2 years.

39
00:02:18,271 --> 00:02:21,608
Addressing wellness and access
to care in central Pennsylvania

40
00:02:21,608 --> 00:02:25,345
are centerpieces of Penn State
Health’s community health initiatives.

41
00:02:25,979 --> 00:02:30,350
In a 2021 survey of six
counties in central Pennsylvania, one

42
00:02:30,350 --> 00:02:34,621
in seven respondents over the age of 50
had never received a colonoscopy.

43
00:02:35,188 --> 00:02:39,425
One in 15 women over the age of 40
had never received a mammogram –

44
00:02:39,792 --> 00:02:40,760
and the breast cancer

45
00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,330
rate in Lancaster County
was the highest of the counties surveyed.

46
00:02:44,864 --> 00:02:48,301
Forty-two percent of respondents
reported having high blood pressure,

47
00:02:48,501 --> 00:02:51,471
and 39% had high cholesterol.

48
00:02:51,471 --> 00:02:54,107
Dozens of people
faced with similar problems

49
00:02:54,107 --> 00:02:57,810
and in need of health care have connected
with Shuman through her station

50
00:02:57,810 --> 00:03:01,681
at Anchor, which functions
like a doctor’s office with no walls.

51
00:03:02,515 --> 00:03:03,917
But it’s more than that.

52
00:03:03,917 --> 00:03:07,353
Men and women – many of whom are less
fortunate than Spells,

53
00:03:07,353 --> 00:03:11,925
who has an apartment – turn to her
for help just with surviving another day.

54
00:03:12,225 --> 00:03:15,828
And for them, calling Shuman
an angel isn’t far off the mark.

55
00:03:17,063 --> 00:03:19,165
Not just health care.

56
00:03:19,165 --> 00:03:22,035
On the Thursday morning
when Shuman gives Spells his shot,

57
00:03:22,035 --> 00:03:26,306
Anchor serves about 170 people
French toast and ham for breakfast.

58
00:03:27,207 --> 00:03:30,343
Others take a shower or warm themselves
and talk with friends.

59
00:03:30,944 --> 00:03:33,580
Many are unsheltered, but not all.

60
00:03:33,580 --> 00:03:35,281
Anchor helps anyone who needs it.

61
00:03:35,281 --> 00:03:35,815
A woman with a stethoscope wraps
a blood pressure

62
00:03:35,815 --> 00:03:36,316
cuff around the arm of a woman facing her.

63
00:03:36,316 --> 00:03:37,417
Shuman is one of a variety

64
00:03:37,417 --> 00:03:40,653
of representatives of local health
care, law enforcement

65
00:03:40,653 --> 00:03:44,424
and other programs who position themselves
at the edges of the breakfast.

66
00:03:45,258 --> 00:03:48,861
They are people who know how to help
when you have nowhere else to turn.

67
00:03:49,295 --> 00:03:52,298
A man named Lenny
can get you a sleeping bag if you need it.

68
00:03:52,799 --> 00:03:56,069
Doctors from other health
care institutions are positioned nearby.

69
00:03:56,569 --> 00:03:58,504
Everyone works together.

70
00:03:58,504 --> 00:04:01,507
Sometimes, guests’ needs are obscure.

71
00:04:01,541 --> 00:04:03,876
A woman Shuman works with
is asking for help

72
00:04:03,876 --> 00:04:06,813
in obtaining a copy of her high school
diploma.

73
00:04:06,813 --> 00:04:09,949
Shuman makes calls and visits websites
to make it happen.

74
00:04:10,617 --> 00:04:13,553
In her garage at home,
Shuman has filled three garbage bags

75
00:04:13,553 --> 00:04:16,623
with socks gathered from nursing
informatics departments

76
00:04:16,623 --> 00:04:19,993
across all five of Penn State
Health’s acute care hospitals.

77
00:04:20,460 --> 00:04:23,930
Sometimes, people just swing by her table
for a clean, dry pair

78
00:04:24,097 --> 00:04:27,100
or one of the stack of handwarmers
she offers.

79
00:04:27,233 --> 00:04:29,869
“Sometimes I’m
just listening to people,” she said.

80
00:04:31,437 --> 00:04:33,806
‘Always there for you’

81
00:04:33,806 --> 00:04:36,943
When helping is about health care,
the needs are sometimes dire.

82
00:04:37,410 --> 00:04:41,247
Concerns are all over the map
– diabetes, heart disease,

83
00:04:41,381 --> 00:04:45,385
mental health issues and musculoskeletal
problems are common.

84
00:04:46,185 --> 00:04:49,122
DaVinci Vega was born
and raised in Lancaster.

85
00:04:49,122 --> 00:04:51,958
He’s been visiting Anchor for years
and used to help with putting

86
00:04:51,958 --> 00:04:53,493
tables and chairs away.

87
00:04:53,493 --> 00:04:57,363
Now, Vega has deep scars on
both legs, souvenirs

88
00:04:57,363 --> 00:05:00,366
from surgery
he received to treat compartment syndrome,

89
00:05:00,667 --> 00:05:04,037
a painful pressure in his muscles
caused by internal bleeding.

90
00:05:04,570 --> 00:05:07,740
During a medical appointment
about his legs, a doctor discovered

91
00:05:07,940 --> 00:05:10,176
what might be cancer in his spine.

92
00:05:10,176 --> 00:05:11,911
The jury is still out.

93
00:05:11,911 --> 00:05:15,682
Shuman is helping him navigate his
insurance to find a doctor that’s right

94
00:05:15,682 --> 00:05:16,883
for him.

95
00:05:16,883 --> 00:05:19,886
“She always helps me out
with anything that I need,” he said.

96
00:05:20,086 --> 00:05:21,788
She’s a beautiful person.

97
00:05:21,788 --> 00:05:23,523
She understands everybody.

98
00:05:23,523 --> 00:05:27,226
She’s always there for you.”
“Angie is connected so well

99
00:05:27,226 --> 00:05:31,831
with our guests,” said Patty Eastep,
Anchor Lancaster’s executive director.

100
00:05:32,799 --> 00:05:34,400
“People are asking for her.

101
00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:35,735
They seek her out.

102
00:05:35,735 --> 00:05:40,139
We all love her.” Shuman worked for years
as a triage nurse

103
00:05:40,139 --> 00:05:44,043
at Penn State Heart and Vascular Institute
― IO Silver Clinic.

104
00:05:44,310 --> 00:05:47,213
One day, she volunteered at a community
health event

105
00:05:47,213 --> 00:05:50,216
and liked it so much
she applied for a job opening.

106
00:05:50,750 --> 00:05:54,153
“I realized I had the solid nursing skills
and the strong assessment

107
00:05:54,153 --> 00:05:57,724
skills to be out and independent
in the community,” she said.

108
00:05:58,958 --> 00:06:00,660
His angel.

109
00:06:00,660 --> 00:06:04,097
Shuman knows she’s making a difference,
though it’s not always easy to see.

110
00:06:04,530 --> 00:06:08,134
After she leaves Anchor Lancaster later
that morning, she’ll go to a local

111
00:06:08,134 --> 00:06:11,971
Salvation Army, where she’ll perform
cholesterol and blood pressure screenings.

112
00:06:12,438 --> 00:06:15,041
Here,
she encourages lifestyle modifications

113
00:06:15,041 --> 00:06:18,211
among guests,
like more exercise and better diets.

114
00:06:18,544 --> 00:06:21,447
Sometimes people’s numbers improve.

115
00:06:21,447 --> 00:06:23,583
But it’s not always easy to track.

116
00:06:23,583 --> 00:06:26,252
Patients
sometimes move away or just go dark,

117
00:06:26,252 --> 00:06:29,455
and she can only hope that the work she’s
doing has resonated

118
00:06:29,689 --> 00:06:32,692
and that wherever they’ve wound
up, they’re OK.

119
00:06:33,059 --> 00:06:36,062
But with patients like Spells,
she knows it’s working.

120
00:06:36,229 --> 00:06:38,798
When Shuman
first met him a couple years ago,

121
00:06:38,798 --> 00:06:40,700
he was unsheltered, nearly blind

122
00:06:40,700 --> 00:06:44,303
and attempting to give himself
insulin injections twice a day.

123
00:06:45,037 --> 00:06:48,808
Shuman recommended he speak with
his doctor about a diabetes medication

124
00:06:48,808 --> 00:06:52,478
that only required a once-a-week
injection, which he’s now on.

125
00:06:52,812 --> 00:06:56,482
“I could see him once a week for
medication and diet teaching,” she said.

126
00:06:56,816 --> 00:06:59,685
“I couldn’t do twice a day.” Sometimes

127
00:06:59,685 --> 00:07:02,688
he comes to see her at Anchor,
but he doesn’t drive.

128
00:07:02,722 --> 00:07:04,323
Like many people in the area,

129
00:07:04,323 --> 00:07:07,894
a lack of transportation becomes a barrier
to getting the care he needs.

130
00:07:08,094 --> 00:07:09,796
So often Shuman meets him

131
00:07:09,796 --> 00:07:12,865
and gives him the injection
in the common room at his apartment.

132
00:07:13,433 --> 00:07:15,401
She goes with him to his doctor
appointments,

133
00:07:15,401 --> 00:07:19,005
where she’s learned his problems
related to diabetes are improving.

134
00:07:20,139 --> 00:07:21,574
After Spells receives his

135
00:07:21,574 --> 00:07:24,577
weekly dose,
he gets up from Shuman’s table.

136
00:07:24,577 --> 00:07:28,147
He’ll spend an hour or so warming up,
and then he’ll head back outside

137
00:07:28,347 --> 00:07:31,284
for a cold bus ride to his apartment.

138
00:07:31,284 --> 00:07:34,287
Before he leaves, he nods in Shuman’s
direction.

139
00:07:34,554 --> 00:07:36,589
“Take care of my angel, now,” he says.