For the tenth edition of Meet the Staff, we introduce you to Hawa Sissoho, Mobile Health’s Account Services Representative (ASR). Hawa joined Mobile Health in 2014 during the flu vaccination season as a flu support coordinator, and transitioned into the ASR role in late 2014. As a born and raised New Yorker, Hawa has no trouble juggling the high speed energy and immediate needs of our clients and patients.
A first generation American, Hawa helped her family bridge the cultural and language barriers in communicating with healthcare professionals. This included talking to doctors during visits and interpreting medical reports on their behalf. After years in this role, Hawa quickly recognized the need for better clarification and facilitation of medical knowledge.
Born in the Bronx, Hawa attended New York City public schools and graduated from the Bronx Health Sciences High School. The decision to study healthcare at a young age was directly inspired by the challenges she experienced with her parents while navigating the sometimes complicated world of healthcare administration.
Even though Hawa’s interest lied in health, she couldn’t decide on a position in the clinical or administrative side of care. Although it is easy to see the immediate benefits of clinical care, Hawa also understood the importance of proper and organized administration. This combined with the displeasure of drawing blood or performing other medical procedures lead her to enter the administrative side of care.
While studying for her Bachelors in Health Services at Berkley, Hawa volunteered for the American Cancer Society learning about the inner workings of a major healthcare organization. These two years exposed her to many of the academic subjects she was learning, but with real world executions. With her volunteer experience and newly earned degree, Hawa graduated in 2014.
Now with a formal healthcare education, Hawa decided to pursue a job that allowed her to make healthcare knowledge more accessible, just as she did for her parent’s years earlier. While searching, she came across Mobile Health’s posting for a flu support coordinator during the influenza vaccination season. The position promised patient interaction, logistics, administrative organization, and the ability to travel to on-site clinics. All things that excited Hawa and encouraged her to apply.
As a flu support coordinator, the one area she never considered was working with employers and companies. But as logistics needed to be decided and issues resolved, Hawa thrived in quickly applying her problem solving skills into a B2B setting. Soon after flu vaccination season ended, she was offered the opportunity to continue helping Mobile Health clients as an Account Services Representative (ASR).
Today, Hawa helps clients interpret medical reports and resolve a variety of situations relating to their employee’s occupational health. In some ways, Hawa relates to her new responsibilities to the same support she continues to give her parents.
Looking ahead, Hawa looks forward to growing in the administrative healthcare industry, hoping to become a Director of Healthcare. To help in her goal, she is enrolling back in school for the Masters later this year.
And as far as New York goes, she doesn’t think there is anything like it out there and plans to set-up roots and a family within the same five boroughs she now calls home.
