Rachel Farmer, a unit clerk in Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital’s Trauma Neurosurgical Unit, has fought many battles in her life. Now, she fights for others on the front lines of COVID-19. Often called “Reverend Rachel” by her colleagues, Farmer aims to bring comfort and levity to an incredibly stressful time for patients, their families and her colleagues.
After attaining her Master’s in Divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary, Farmer joined LGH in May 2020. She uses her spirituality to help others process their trauma.
The pandemic hit close to home when Farmer lost her mother to COVID-19 earlier this year. Farmer credits her mother, who is the daughter of sharecroppers from Alabama, as her role model. “My mother came up north from rural Alabama, looking for a better life,” Farmer said. “She came to New York City, got a job as a factory worker and bought a house. For someone who was born in a system determined to hold Black people down, she accomplished so much.” Farmer herself broke racial barriers in 1988 when she became the first African-American Miss Lancaster County. “The weekend after I won, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in Lancaster, and pageant organizers sent me back to Temple University, where I was in school.”
Recently, Farmer made a surprise connection with the spouse of a very ill patient. As the two got to know each other, they discovered they had both attended seminary and their interactions quickly elevated from unit clerk and spousal-visitor to one of friendliness and gratitude. Farmer said, “The comfort demonstrated by the spouse in the days leading up to the patient’s passing was invaluable. I was able to be there and empathize with their grief, even though we had no previous relationship.”
Farmer, who has a large, multiracial family, decided she wanted to be “part of the solution” to the impacts of racism that she and her mother had experienced. As a result of her work on the trauma floor, she now hopes to attend nursing school.
With three children and a full-time job, Farmer still makes time for her passion in life: singing. She has performed at Lancaster’s Prima Theater and used her voice to support the Crispus Attucks Community Center. In January she was honored by the center with the Essence of Humanity Award, an honor intended to recognize individuals that go above and beyond to demonstrate persistence when dealing with adversity, and to recognize those who demonstrate the spirit of caring to individuals on a daily basis.
Farmer accepted the award in memory of her mother.
At Penn Medicine, we all aspire to be Difference Makers who represent the Penn Medicine Experience (PMX) in action. PMX sets a consistent standard across all of our entities and work locations to make every touchpoint an opportunity to build enduring connections with patients, families, visitors and colleagues, which is a foundational part of the UPHS Success Share program.
Do you have a Difference Maker on your team? If so, let us know! Email sally.sapega@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.