For more than 25 years, Cindy Flora has served in a medical assistant role, having been drawn to the healthcare field by her compassion to help others. She is currently a medical assistant at Doctors Park Family Medicine, a Columbus Regional Health physician practice, and enjoys the daily interactions she has with patients and her co-workers.

Under the direction of Practice Manager Kim Barnett and Office Manager Heather Cowan, Cindy’s responsibilities as lead medical assistant as well as the phlebotomist in the office lab include addressing clinical staff schedules, communicating workflow changes, orienting new hires, ensuring policies, procedures, and quality controls are being done, and ordering clinical supplies.

As Doctors Park and other Columbus Regional Health physician practices have had to adapt in how they provide care and service in response to COVID-19, Cindy, too, has had to learn to adapt to those changes. She has received training to be able to assist with teleheath and video visits that have been implemented in the office. She said that as staff and patients are required to wear masks in the office, drawing labs can be challenging as some people can be anxious during that time. She misses being able to offer a comforting hug or handshake to patients due to social distancing requirements. During this challenging time, Cindy said that Kim Barnett and Heather Cowan always remind her and her colleagues of the importance of taking care of patients but also taking care of each other as a team in the office.

As Columbus Regional Health locations have opened up for more services, Cindy said the office is ensuring patients that their number one goal is patient care. “We want our patients to be able to get back to feeling safe and know that they are going to be cared for as efficiently and effectively as they have been in the past,” she said. Helping them feel safe in receiving care also means that she reassures them that the hospital is taking the same safety measures. “I have had patients ask if it is safe to go ahead and schedule their colonoscopy or other routine procedures. I try to reassure them of all the extra measures the hospital has put in place for their safety as well as those around them,” she said.

In late February, Cindy’s own personal patient experience helped remind her of how she wants to provide that same level of high-quality care for patients. “I was so well taken care of that when this pandemic started, I thought to myself I want to be able to give that same kind of care and compassion that I received to my patients,” she said.

If you are a patient at Doctors Park and need to schedule an appointment, please call 812-372-8281.

If you are in need of a primary care provider, please call WellConnect at 812-376-5136.