Patient Advocate Profile: Victoria de la Cruz, BSHA

Victoria de la Cruz is a patient advocate with more than 25 years of healthcare experience spanning clinical care, healthcare administration, and senior care coordination. As an Umbra advocate, she helps individuals and families of all ages navigate care transitions, coordinate services across providers, and make complex healthcare decisions with clarity and support.

Victoria began her career on clinical teams as a Certified Nursing Assistant and Medication Technician. Those early years inspired her to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration and build a deep understanding of how healthcare systems work from the inside. She has spent more than 15 years in clinical and managerial roles across hospitals, long-term care, and home health.

Why Victoria de la Cruz became a patient advocate

Victoria’s path into healthcare started at home. Her father was a physician, and his dedication to his patients shaped her values from an early age.

Her advocacy journey started early, too. Growing up, Victoria watched her nana face serious health challenges, and she quickly became her advocate. She helped her nana manage appointments, ask the right questions, and make sure her voice was heard. In 2017, Victoria stepped into the role of healthcare proxy, supporting complex medical decisions and coordinating her nana’s care through falls, hospitalizations, and rehabilitation stays.

Today, at 94, her nana is still with her. Victoria continues to serve as her healthcare advocate and healthcare proxy, and her nana continues to live with support, dignity, and a care plan that adapts to her changing needs. Walking alongside her all these years showed Victoria what families truly need: support, clarity, and compassion.

Victoria became a professional patient advocate to make sure no one has to walk their healthcare journey alone. Helping others through difficult transitions is not just her work. It is her purpose.

How de la Cruz helps clients

Through Umbra, Victoria helps clients with:

• Care transitions, including hospital admissions, discharge planning, and rehab placement
• Care coordination and management across multiple providers and settings
• Senior care navigation, including long-term care, home health, nursing home, and memory care decisions
• Insurance review, plan selection, and benefits navigation, including Medicare Advantage plan comparisons
• In-person support at hospitals, appointments, and at home
• Finding trusted providers and community resources
• End-of-life planning, hospice support, and healthcare proxy and POA guidance
• Paperwork help and communication with care teams

Victoria de la Cruz specializes in senior care and care transitions

Victoria’s specialty is helping older adults and their families through the moments when care changes: a hospitalization, a move to rehab, a return home, or a transition to long-term or memory care. Her background as a home care administrator gives her firsthand knowledge of how home health services work and what it takes to set someone up to recover safely at home.

She also brings real depth in insurance navigation. In one recent case through Umbra, Victoria helped a Medicare beneficiary and his spouse prepare for a move to another state while managing chronic health concerns. She researched and compared Medicare Advantage plans in their new area, reviewing network coverage, specialist access, therapy benefits, prescription coverage, and dental, vision, and hearing benefits. Her guidance helped the family choose a plan with confidence and keep their care on track through a stressful move.

Victoria also volunteers in the hospice community, supporting individuals and families with dignity and comfort during some of life’s most difficult moments.

You can read more of Victoria’s advice in our article on Nursing Home Red Flags.

Work with Victoria de la Cruz

Victoria is based in Massachusetts and works with clients in person across Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She is also available to clients nationwide through virtual advocacy.

Victoria’s services are available through Umbra with coverage by Medicare or through private pay. To get matched with Victoria or another Umbra advocate, call 332-699-6778 or visit our get started page to tell us more about how you need support.