Making Time for Helping: Providence Biller Builds on the Rich Legacy Left by her Grandma
When your best friend growing up is your grandmother, that relationship plants a seed. Sometimes, with respect, care, and lots and lots of love, that seed grows into a strong tree that blossoms and blooms, producing fruits like patience, compassion, and empathy. It is not surprising that we see those qualities in 2023 Hallmark of Caring honoree Nichole Buchinski.
In fact, she was the person who helped Nichole get her start in the healthcare field. At 18, Nichole was living with her sister and needed a job. Her grandma helped Nichole find employment as a file clerk at the hospital where she worked. That job was just the beginning. Soon, Nichole learned new skills and continued moving to new positions, always in healthcare.
That work ethic is still strong today. “Nichole is a knowledgeable, conscientious, hard-working employee that we can always count on,” Larry Otte, Providence Life Services Vice-President of Finance, says. “She selflessly volunteers to help others with their workloads when coworkers need assistance. She looks for work that needs to get done and she does what she can to help.”
Nichole has been a Billing Coordinator at Providence for six years, spending most of her day at her computer, often working hard to navigate Medicare, private insurance, and other billing issues. But the best part for her is when she gets to talk to residents and patients.
“One person calls every week,” she says. “She always says something about billing, but really, she just wants to talk.”
Nichole enjoys these exchanges with residents. “Healthcare can be confusing, and people feel overwhelmed and stressed out. They’re looking for a little help,” she says. “I might be busy, but it’s worth the time it takes to make someone feel better.”
Nichole also has her own photography business, and along with her family, which includes 3 sons, 2 dogs, and 2 cats, she’s pretty busy. She dreams of becoming a wildlife photographer someday and enjoys travel when the family’s schedule allows it. For now, she busies herself with updating her home and spending time with the people she loves, including a grandma she visits regularly.
It’s difficult when loved ones are no longer here to enjoy life with, but Nichole uses those losses to remind herself to treat residents as she would want her own grandma to be treated. When Nichole first began working at Providence, her grandma came to visit often. Now that her grandma has passed away, we think she would be proud of the kind of employee, friend, and human being Nichole continues to be.
