About Us
Elisabeth Schuler Russell – Founder and President
The company’s founder, Elisabeth Schuler Russell, launched Patient Navigator LLC in October 2004 after navigating her 2-year old daughter’s journey through an inoperable brainstem tumor.
Elisabeth experienced first-hand how difficult and frightening it is for a family under stress to navigate the complexities of the American health care system. When her daughter recovered, Elisabeth committed herself to a new career using what she had learned as a patient advocate to help and teach others. Since September 2009, Elisabeth Russell has been the Vice President of the newly-created National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants. In 2012, she was invited to participate in a strategic task force on the future of patient advocacy by the University of Wisconsin.
Elisabeth has been trained in several disciplines. In October 2011, she completed of the Mind-Body Medicine Professional Training Program offered by the Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM) in Washington D.C In June 2009, Elisabeth completed CancerGuides® II training, The Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s course in integrative oncology for people with cancer and their families. That same year, she completed a continuing education course on conventional medicine at Georgetown University. In 2007, she earned the Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® credential which provides specialized training in aging and the important issues that affect seniors.
Elisabeth Russell was trained in 1991 by her local hospice organization as a bereavement counselor. She founded a parent loss support group which she facilitated for ten years. She has been a full-time caregiver for a family member and understands the needs of the elderly.
In her first career, Elisabeth worked 24 years in the U.S. Government, 22 of them as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of State during which time she earned nine prestigious Honor Awards. She holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a Bachelor’s Degree from the American University in Paris, France. She has lived abroad, traveled extensively and speaks French and Spanish. She is married with two children, a son who is 17 and her daughter who is now a healthy, thriving 14-year old.
Of her new calling, Elisabeth recounts a conversation with her pastor in 2003. “I asked him, ‘what can I do to thank God for the miracle of my daughter’s survival?’ He told me, very simply, ‘You should help other people going through the same thing.’ I knew at that moment I had been given my answer.”
Debora Harvey – Director of Client Services
Debora Harvey has been working to support families in the Washington D.C. area since 2001. By providing condition-related information to clients, she has enabled them to make informed decisions with their care providers regarding their health care. She also works as a patient advocate in the hospital, or any clinical setting, with the patient when the need arises.
In addition to serving clients, Debora has had personal experience with close family members having Alzheimer’s disease, strokes, heart disease and several forms of cancer. This intimate association with these difficult conditions has given her a unique perspective from which to provide support to clients. Debora is a professional childbirth “doula” and has assisted in the delivery of dozens of babies. Prior to working as a patient navigator, Debora spent 15 years working in international telecommunications, earned two degrees from American University, and completed post-graduate work at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
In June 2009, Debora completed CancerGuides® II training, The Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s course in integrative oncology for people with cancer and their families. That same year, she completed a continuing education course on conventional medicine at Georgetown University. In 2007, she earned the Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® credential which provides specialized training in aging and the important issues that affect seniors.
Dr. Karen Zorrilla, M.D.
Dr. Karen Zorrilla, a bilingual board-certified pediatrician, developed a personal interest in patient advocacy and navigation fifteen years ago with the birth of her daughter who was born with a rare congenital skeletal problem associated with significant orthopedic issues. Searching for the best care for such a unique problem took her on a journey within the United States as well as abroad to Europe. Along the way, she has had the privilege of collaborating with specialists at major medical centers in the U.S. and in Europe.
Professional colleagues, friends, and family often refer families to her for assistance in finding the best care, and she has had the privilege of helping families who are afflicted with many different conditions, not only here in the U.S., but also from as far away as Australia and South America.
These families have included both adult and pediatric patients, with a common thread in all of these cases being feelings of helplessness and desperation. Dr. Zorrilla knows, firsthand, how frustrated and how helpless one can feel when there are no clear answers, especially when it relates to one’s child or loved one. She driven by what she loves to do most… helping people… and is fortunate to be able to draw on her many years of medical training, practice and experience both as a pediatrician and as a mother to guide the families that come to her to seek the very best for their unique medical situations.
Dr. Zorrilla completed her general medical education and pediatric residency training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Her clinical training was all completed in the Texas Medical Center at Texas Children’s Hospital, Ben Taub General Hospital, The Methodist Hospital, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital. During residency, she was honored with a position as a neonatology Chief Resident. Prior to her medical training, Dr. Zorrilla attended Duke University where she received a B.S. degree in Psychology.
Patient Navigator, LLC also draws on the expertise of other trained professionals in our network as needed to develop and implement your action plan.
