By Elisabeth Costanzo Stewart
When prospective students first hear about SUNY Reconnect, their response to the offer of an all-expenses-paid education is overwhelmingly positive. But for many, initial excitement is closely followed by self-doubt. Fears of being too old, too busy, or too far removed from the classroom inevitably surface, but inspiration cures hesitation. Don’t take our word for it — ask Elena Benjamin!
Benjamin, a full-time SUNY Broome student, is leveraging the Reconnect opportunity to retool for a new career as a health information management professional. On top of her academics, she’s a full-time phlebotomist at Guthrie Lourdes Hospital, a wife, and mother of four, somehow balancing it all while creating a new normal after a brutal battle with breast cancer. Simply put: if Elena Benjamin can find the time to embrace SUNY Reconnect, anyone can!
Benjamin hails from Baltimore, Maryland, and spent her teen years in northern Florida. After graduating from high school, she planned on taking a gap year and then proceeding to college, but plans changed when she discovered she was expecting her first child. Instead of heading off to higher ed, the new, young mother moved to the Southern Tier to be near her husband’s family.
As a working mom, Benjamin ventured into retail and commercial housekeeping. Her professional and personal priorities began to blend when her eldest daughter developed a kidney disorder known as Nephrotic Syndrome. Tasked with managing her daughter’s home care, Benjamin found herself administering treatments and transfusions. In doing so, she perfected venipuncture and dermal puncture with the gentleness of a mother’s touch.
“When I would take my daughter to her doctor’s appointments, she would say, ‘Mommy, I don’t like the way they stick me. I like the way you stick me,’” Benjamin recalled. “Her compliment inspired me to become a phlebotomist.”
Seeking official training, Benjamin enrolled in the Phlebotomy: Certificate program offered at her community’s college. In the midst of earning her certification, she was hired by the American Red Cross, which expedited her instruction through on-the-job experiences. Before long, Guthrie Lourdes Hospital was calling her name.
Elena is excited to transition from a career in phlebotomy to health information technology. Photo Credit: Matt Ebbers
While balancing full-time hours at the hospital, a full load of phlebotomy courses at SUNY Broome, and caring for her family, Benjamin realized that what she brushed off as just a rash was, in fact, Triple Negative (TNBC), Stage 3C, Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC). Determined to maintain normalcy, she continued to work and pursue her certificate while undergoing chemotherapy. Four months into her treatment, however, she became too weak to continue. She ‘rested’ for three months, bravely opted for a bilateral mastectomy, and began rounds of radiation and immunotherapy.
When she returned to work, she was met with the realities that her body’s fragile immune system could no longer sustain constant, direct-patient interaction. Encouraged by her supervisor, Benjamin scrolled SUNY Broome’s list of Reconnect-eligible healthcare programs. There, she stumbled upon the Health Information Technology: A.A.S. degree, a fully online health sciences program designed to train specialists in health information systems, medical records management, and medical coding and billing.
Benjamin was delighted to find a way to stay in the world of healthcare, in a role that’s less physically taxing on her body. Not only did Benjamin find an answer to her career crossroads, but that answer included a FREE degree!
“I made a list of pros and cons in my head, but soon my list turned to mostly pros as I considered my health, my family, and my recovery schedule,” Benjamin explained. “It’s comforting to know that even though I won’t be physically with my patients, getting to know them as I do as a phlebotomist, I can still get to know them through their charts, and support them that way.”
Juggling a full-time job, the schedules of her husband and children, and many medical appointments made academic flexibility a non-negotiable. Thankfully, the health information technology program is designed to be completed asynchronously, tailored to each student’s unique timetable.
Benjamin enrolled at SUNY Broome in the Fall 2025 semester, and breezed through HIT 101 – Introduction to Health Information Systems, thanks to her many years of healthcare experience. Medical terms were familiar, not foreign, and her pre-existing knowledge boosted her confidence as a returning student.
College life for Benjamin is all about having an intentional schedule, mixed with a bit of patience and grace. As the first one awake in her house, Benjamin helps her kids get ready for school, and heads to work for her 7 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. shift. She then runs home, makes dinner, helps her kids with their homework, and devotes the next three to four hours to tackling her own studies, leaving just enough time to watch a little TV, sleep, and do it all over again.
A key to Benjamin’s academic accomplishments is the supportive community of champions cheering her on: from SUNY Broome faculty and staff, to her family, to her employer.
“My managers have been super supportive of my going back to college,” Benjamin explained. “When it’s time for me to do my HIT clinical rotations, they will work with me so that I can do them at Guthrie Lourdes around my current schedule. When I complete the program, they have offered to help me transition to a position within our system.”
Benjamin recently hit a major milestone — three months in remission! Though her care still includes regular preemptive CTs, MRIs, and bloodwork, for now, the worst is behind her. Now, she can just focus on her bright future.
“SUNY Reconnect changed my life. Without it, I’d be lost, wondering what to do next,” Benjamin shared. “With it, I have a future.”
Learn more about SUNY Broome’s Health Information Technology: A.A.S. program!
Elena appreciates the flexibility of the HIT program as a working parent. Photo Credit: Matt Ebbers
Tags: Health Information Technology, Health Sciences Division, Profile, Student Profile, SUNY Reconnect, Women's History Month
