Alum walks patients through one-stop medical testing
Life doesn’t always turn out the way you expect it to — and that can be a good thing. When Sarah (Seneca) Weimer ’14 majored in broadcasting, she wanted to become a sideline reporter on ESPN. For the past two years, however, she has been working as the executive health services manager at St. Luke’s University Health Network in Easton, Pennsylvania, overseeing the day-to-day operations for its ExecuHealth program.
“When I was in college, I enjoyed my [broadcasting] internships,” Weimer said. “But everyone I would talk to said, ‘You have to work a lot of nights and weekends and be willing to relocate in this industry.’ I quickly realized that lifestyle wasn’t for me.”
Finishing up her senior year, Weimer decided to look into sales roles since she loved working with and building relationships with people. A week before graduation, she landed her first job as a sales representative for a chemical distribution company called Brenntag, where she worked for three years. At a leadership conference, she connected with a manager at St. Luke’s Hospital and eventually began working there.
Designed specifically for executives and busy individuals, the ExecuHealth program allows patients to complete a comprehensive evidence-based health evaluation and receive medical advice from experts all in one day and place. Weimer’s main responsibility is to explain the program and its benefits to companies’ executive teams.
“Executives are busy traveling and they don’t always have enough time to take care of themselves,” she said. “This head-to-toe exam provides companies and individuals the peace of mind that their health concerns are being addressed so they can work at their full capacity.”
Weimer helps to facilitate patients’ experiences from start to finish by greeting them on the day of their assessment, escorting them throughout the day and coordinating follow-up care.
Her accomplishments come as no surprise to Professor of Communication Kate Oswald Wilkins, who served as Weimer’s mentor.
“It was fun to see Sarah polish her natural abilities through her time at Messiah,” Wilkins said. “I credit the effort she made to take advantage of coursework and applied experiences. She was willing to take risks and try new experiences, and she grew so much as a result.”
Though not what she had initially set out to do, Weimer enjoys her job and finds much purpose in it. Majoring in broadcasting helped her develop transferable skills such as writing and public speaking, which she uses daily.
“It’s funny how life turns out, isn’t it?” she said. “I love my job in healthcare and feel blessed to have the opportunity to impact people’s lives in this way.”
— Leanne Tan ’21