May 11, 2022
Danielle Toto is a Social Work Supervisor for St. Mary’s Home Care, but she is always going beyond her “official” role in the past few years. Danielle has willingly accepted myriad added responsibilities above and beyond the care components of her job.
In 2019, she volunteered to accept oversight for the new Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Palliative Care waiver programs. She took on responsibilities for recruitment, training, and supervision of many new expressive, art, music, and bereavement therapists.
Danielle represents St. Mary’s Home Care at the HCBS meetings and is a vocal advocate for improved reimbursement rates to recruit more staff to expand these services to additional patients.
She always thinks “out of the box” and doesn’t just “attend” meetings – she always contributes thoughtful suggestions and ideas. Danielle recently researched new products, crafts, and games to help therapists develop new ways to treat our palliative care patients. Her efforts provided much-needed relief and moments of joy to some of the healthcare system’s sickest and most fragile individuals. She also found a way to obtain and deliver a smoke/carbon monoxide detector to one of her families who needed one but could not afford it. She does not give up when it comes to obtaining her patients the resources and services they need to help improve their quality of life.
Danielle also helps facilitate a monthly meeting with internal colleagues from our Inpatient SNF, Care Coordination, CHHA, and LHCSA programs to promote collegiality and ensure continuity of care between shared patients – one of St. Mary’s Core Competencies. Danielle also volunteers her time on other St. Mary’s committees, including the Baldrige Leadership Workgroup and the Ethics Committee.
Danielle has impacted countless lives during her almost 20-year tenure at St. Mary’s by advocating for patients.
