HEALTH CARE HEROES 2026 AWARDS
Nurse: Barbara Lee Trout, CODAC Inc. director of health care services
What led you to choose health care as your profession? My decision to choose health care as a career was not based on altruism. I had always loved and excelled in mathematics, the sciences, problem-solving and critical thinking. I entered Brown University as an undergraduate with an intended major in pre-med. I left Brown after a semester and a half on an extended leave of absence to pursue my drinking career. After I became sober about 10 years later, I needed a career. I chose nursing for the following reasons: 1) It was still in the “medical” field that I originally wanted to pursue; 2) I could obtain a degree in less time and with less capital than going back to a pre-med/med school pathway; 3) There was a diversity in types of nursing I could pursue; 4) I was almost guaranteed that there would be nursing jobs available whereever I landed; and I appreciated the philosophy and definition of nursing – “a dynamic health care profession focused on the holistic care of individuals, families and communities to promote, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. It combines scientific knowledge with the art of compassionate, patient-centered care to prevent illness, alleviate suffering and facilitate healing.”
How have you helped boost the quality of or access to health care? Having lived experience in the field I have chosen, I am able to train and lead nurses to provide more-compassionate and more-meaningful care to our patient populations.
What is the biggest challenge you and your organization are facing this year? Sustainable financial stability in the face of real and potential cuts to Medicaid and Medicare funding.
What more do you feel the state can do to help further support the health care sector in Rhode Island? State leaders need to put aside personal political agendas and work more collaboratively to develop a sustainable health care system, the leading industry in the state.
Are you confident patient access and quality of care will improve in Rhode Island over the next five years? Why or why not? I hope that it will improve. I am not confident that it will in the face of cuts to funding, the current state of access to primary care in the state, and the continued rise in the cost of health care and the rise of out-of-pocket health care costs to the consumer.
