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Glass half full: Dave Hansel
Thanks to the flexibility and convenience of virtual care, Dave enjoys an active lifestyle where the Patina team stays connected to him — wherever he goes.
Retired maintenance manager from New Hope, Pa.; married to Rosanne and dad to Amber and Emily
Creates stained glass; president of a local charity; passionate about family and fishing
Wanted a more personalized approach where his care team was really listening to him and addressing his needs
Began seeing Patina care team – Michelle Lu, NP, Irene Yeboah-Ameah, RN, Patina Nurse Champion, and Val Voluntad, Patina Health Champion
Loves how Patina fits into his active lifestyle: Uses mobile app to view vital signs, check in with his care team, and share information about upcoming appointments and medical status with his family
“I feel seen and secure that Patina will be there when I need them.”
Dave Hansel has everything he needs.
Sheets of color and bottles of patina. Grinders and solder. Blades that cut glass and pliers that break it. Light pouring in through the back window of his downstairs workshop and his wife, Rosanne, an artist and educator, in her own studio space just around the corner. Soon the stained-glass piece on Dave’s worktable will serve as the hallway transom for a new customer. Soon he’ll move onto something new — stained-glass inspired by something his wife has drawn, perhaps, or something he dreams up on his own.
Upstairs, in the open, gracious rooms of the Hansel home, Dave’s art is quietly ubiquitous — a surprise of red or blue or yellow suspended from the frames of kitchen windows, bright glass flowers in the living room, remembered scenes and invented geometries hanging in the airy sunroom that opens up to the outside. Sometimes Dave leaves the world of stained glass to head out into his treasured garden, where, together with his wife, he breeds monarch butterflies and black swallowtails.
It isn’t the life Dave foresaw as the fifth of eight children born to a farming and coal-mining family in Central Pennsylvania. The tragic early loss of Dave’s father left his mother managing 500 acres, 150 heads of Holstein cattle, and all those children. At the age of 11, Dave fell into the routine of baling hay — 10,000 bales of hay each season derived from 200 acres of cut grass. You had to stack the baled hay on wagons with a perfect symmetry, and no wasted space, Dave remembers. You had to stack the bales again, perfectly, in the barn. It wasn’t just a necessity but a discipline that served Dave well as he went on to attend a trade school for fatherless, orphaned young men.
A new, personalized approach to primary care
Dave learned to be an electrician at school. He also applied the cooking and baking skills his mother had taught him to help in the school kitchen.
Within a few years, after taking night-school courses in plumbing, heating, laundry services and air conditioning, Dave was heading up maintenance for a local nursing home facility. He would go on to work for Aramark and, later, for the New Hope Solebury School District until his retirement in 2017 at the age of 65.
One of the few things that made retired life challenging for Dave was his inability to find a local primary care practice that he could rely on to really understand his needs, manage his low blood pressure and deal with the unremitting pain that required him to have both shoulders and a knee replaced. Dave wasn’t getting the attention or care he expected, even though he was paying an annual fee for a concierge primary care service. Then one day a letter from Patina showed up in the mail, and Dave said to himself, Let me try this.
It’s been like night and day, Dave says. With the help of his care team — Michelle Lu, NP (his primary care practitioner), Irene Yeboah-Ameah, RN (his Patina Nurse Champion) and Val Voluntad (his Patina Health Champion) — Dave is getting immediate answers to any medical questions that arise.
When, for example, a surgeon summarily determined that Dave would require knee-replacement surgery and opened his calendar to schedule the service, Michelle provided objective, informed information about the surgery’s risks, benefits, and ideal timing. When, during an in-home check-up with Irene, concerns about Dave’s low blood pressure arose, information from the blood-pressure monitor was fed directly to Michelle’s phone. Michelle was able to see the numbers in real time, talk to Dave about the results and adjust his new medications accordingly.
Feeling known — and seen — by a team that cares
“Everything’s right here,” Dave says, showing the Patina mobile app on his phone. His medical records, notes about conversations, an opportunity for Dave to update the team about recent Covid boosters or flu shots. It’s easy, he says. It’s extremely convenient. And Dave feels known and seen by the Patina team — secure that, when he needs them, they will be there. “It had become a situation where, if I went to the doctor for one thing but also wanted to ask about another concern I had, I’d be told to schedule a second appointment,” Dave said about his prior primary care provider.
“I was being treated by a rotating cast of physician’s assistants who didn’t have time to get to know me. Patina takes a totally different approach, and I couldn’t be happier with it.”
“I was being treated by a rotating cast of physician assistants who didn’t have time to get to know me. Patina takes a totally different approach, and I couldn’t be happier with it.”
There has been much to keep Dave busy during his retirement: making, teaching and selling his art; throwing his famous fish fries for appreciative neighbors; and serving as the president of a local charity that, among other things, raises scholarship money for graduating seniors and offers gifts to underprivileged children at Christmas.
Twice a year, Dave also joins some of his brothers for a getaway to an island in Killarney, Ontario, where they stay in a cottage and set off in a boat each day to catch northern pike, walleye, and muskies. It’s a tradition passed down from the father who passed away too soon, a chance to move out into the mist and watch the day break. Wherever he is, no matter how far from home, Dave carries his trusted Patina care team with him — through the mobile app that keeps him connected wherever he goes.
He also values how the Patina app enables him to conveniently keep his two beloved daughters — Amber and Emily — apprised of his medical status and appointments. Knowing that they are informed and at ease gives Dave peace of mind to continue pursuing his stained glass artwork and the many other activities that bring him and his wife so much joy.
Enjoy primary care from Patina
Offered at no cost as part of many Medicare Advantage plans, Patina is a different kind of primary care that helps you thrive in all aspects of life. You’ll get a dedicated care team that includes a Patina Primary Care Practitioner (PCP) and Patina Health Champion who take the time to know you, understand your needs, and help you navigate the healthcare system – so you get the care you deserve on your terms via video visits, phone, chat and in-person visits, when needed.
Dave's Story
Retired maintenance manager from New Hope, Pa.; married to Rosanne and dad to Amber and Emily
Creates stained glass; president of a local charity; passionate about family and fishing
Wanted a more personalized approach where his care team was really listening to him and addressing his needs
Began seeing Patina care team – Michelle Lu, NP, Irene Yeboah-Ameah, RN, Patina Nurse Champion, and Val Voluntad, Patina Health Champion
Loves how Patina fits into his active lifestyle: Uses mobile app to view vital signs, check in with his care team, and share information about upcoming appointments and medical status with his family
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