Glass half full: Dave Hansel

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.

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.

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.

Learn how other Patina patients are enjoying a better healthcare experience in these additional stories.