First Coast Women’s Services’ Call Center, housed within our Clay County Center, serves as the front line of defense in the fight for LIFE in Northeast Florida. Our professional schedulers and registered nurses stand at the ready to answer the call of women in desperate need of help as they face unplanned pregnancies.
When a woman calls in to our Call Center, she is greeted by one of our professionals who first learns about her situation. Based on the need, the telehealth scheduler will transfer her to a Registered Nurse who can answer her questions and then schedule this caller for an additional telehealth appointment or in-person visit to one of our Centers. Nurses are among the most trusted professionals, and we have found that connecting a woman with a nurse early on in her search for help greatly increases her likelihood to not only come in for an appointment with us, but also to choose life!
The increased human connection between our Call Center staff and our clients before they even walk in the door is making all the difference. For clients who speak to a Call Center staff member, our show rate for follow up in-person appointments averages 75% (a significant increase over those who do not first speak to a Call Center staff member).
“I was talking to a woman who was standing alone on a dirt road; she was about to make a life-or-death decision,” shares Cheryl Gonzalez, Call Center Director (pictured: center). While driving, this woman called the Center in a time of desperation. The conversation gripped her so much, she ended up stopping the car so she could focus on the conversation. Cheryl shares another story of a client who was abortion-determined and called the Center as she was driving to another state to seek an abortion. This client ended up turning around, driving home, and keeping her child.
Telehealth Nurse Amy (pictured: right) explains, “nurses are the most trusted profession.” When she speaks with clients, she also brings her many years of experience as an OB nurse. Amy shares a story of one woman seeking an abortion who’d had a c-section less than two years prior and feared potential uterine rupture. With Amy’s OB experience, she was able to share accurate data related to the risks and calmed the client’s nerves so that she ultimately chose life.
Our nurses share medically accurate, life-affirming information that allows our clients to make informed decisions about their pregnancies, as opposed to the misleading and manipulative information they find from “Dr. Google.” In the words of Tina Dyal (pictured: left), “we just show up and it’s God’s job to do the rest.” All glory goes to God in these rescue efforts.
