Patient Care Manager: Stacy Soto

Stacy Soto's Story

Stacy Soto, a Patient Care Manager, has dedicated her career to healthcare. She worked in physical rehabilitation at a hospital for 13 years before she became a nurse. “There was a lot of popping into patient’s rooms, spending 30 minutes, and then leaving. I realized I wanted to have more bedside time; I wanted to feel I was making a greater impact.”   

After she lost a loved one, she was moved by her experience with hospice. “The ability to show up for patients and families and, you know, just be present for them when they're going through the hardest time of their life is the greatest gift ever,” she says. 

Now she is sharing that gift with other families in her fifth year at Hospice of Washington County. Stacey sees patients and strives to support her team “in any capacity that I absolutely can.”  

Stacy says her work is especially fulfilling when she is able to earn trust from a reluctant patient. “They might not necessarily welcome your visit. But when you show up each and every week, and then they call you with a problem and you collaborate to discover a solution, and you're consistent, they learn to rely on you.” 

“Those have been my favorite patients. The ones that are much harder to reach initially. Once that barrier is broken and they realize I can be trusted, the reward is immense,” she says. 

Stacy grew up in Florida and moved to New Orleans, where she started her family and career. Hurricane Katrina is what pushed her family to Maryland, but they were happy to stay and settle down amid the beautiful rolling hills.   

Now a mother of three, with children ages 19, 15 and 11, Stacey doesn’t have much free time for hobbies. “I have many wannabe hobbies,” she laughs. “But I genuinely enjoy doing what my family is doing. My children are in all sorts of sports and activities, and I love cheering them on. I think it's the season of life that I'm in right now and I'm happy to be here.”