At some point in our lives, most of us will face an illness where we have to deal with many different health care professionals—often spread out in different locations and settings across the health care system. Our primary physician may refer us to a specialist, or we may have an emergency that sends us to the ER and later requires that we be admitted to the hospital or see our primary physician for follow-up. We may even have to move from the hospital to a rehabilitation or long-term care facility.

At 79 years old, Alice Thomas is definitely not your traditional law student, but all her life she’s walked a fairly non-traditional path. Leaving home at just 16 years old, Thomas worked a variety of jobs to support herself including a drug-store waitress, a typist, and even an elevator operator. She eventually found herself in the construction industry despite the fact that it was and continues to be a “man’s world.”

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