Written by: Mia Cooper
Last Thursday night we kicked off the start to an awesome 2025 by celebrating an incredible milestone for Wheelhouse Health-over $1 million in medical debt eliminated for our clients! Complete with tasty food, fun drinks, and plenty of friends and supporters, we celebrated the achievement of helping so many people understand and afford their healthcare. But Thursday's celebration was just a start!! Wheelhouse has exciting plans to continue to share more information, create more community involvement, and help people eliminate unnecessary medical debt.
I wanted to get a sense of how CEO, Emily Bernstein felt about the accomplishment so I asked a few questions! Read below to learn more about Emily’s perspective on the the $1 million achievement and where she is heading next!
What is the most exciting part about eliminating $1 million in medical debt for your clients (aside from the fact that it’s a very large amount of money)
Emily: “The most exciting part of this accomplishment isn't actually anything to do with the money - regardless of how much or little the bills were, every client we worked with has been facing a potentially life-changing bill and we were able to help them navigate that, get peace of mind and move through the situation to the other side.”
What was the biggest factor(s) that contributed to you reaching this goal
Emily: “By far and away, the mentorship I have received and the assistance I have gotten from community members has been the most important. From technical assistance like website help and social media, to very specific guidance on medical bills...I could not have gotten this far without an amazing team of cheerleaders behind me.”
What advice would you give somebody who has just started an organization and is feeling stuck
Emily: “I love brainstorming business challenges so feel free to reach out! The best advice I've gotten is that you don't need it to be perfect before you put something out there. It's more important to start helping people than it is to have something look perfect or be exactly what you want...because it's going to change eventually anyway.”
What are your goals moving forward with Wheelhouse Health? How do you hope to achieve these goals?
Emily: “I hope that Wheelhouse becomes a leader in health navigation nation-wide, and grows into a resource for people much further beyond just Rhode Island. We want to also expand to new populations of newcomers. Of course, we want to continue working with our population here, but so many people need assistance and our model has the potential to grow so much!”
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