78 Photo Essay: Hayley Manasco

Hospice Division Manager, Encompass Health

Words by McKenzie Wade | Image by Blakeney Clouse

On a muggy summer day in 2010, recent Walker High graduate Hayley Manasco was on her way to see her new apartment at The University of Alabama. Suddenly her father, who was driving, experienced a medical emergency and lost consciousness, wrecking their car. Hayley soon found herself performing CPR on him for what seemed like an eternity. 

That terrifying event not only helped save her father’s life, it also convinced Hayley to pursue a nursing career. “I kind of felt that was the Lord’s sign to me,” she explains. 

Hayley received her nursing degree from The University of Alabama and graduated in 2014. “College was great but I kind of kept my head in the books the whole time,” she says.

After marrying her high school sweetheart, Blake, Hayley took a job working in the NICU at St. Vincent’s Hospital. Although she loved that position, she soon realized the NICU wasn’t where she wanted to be. She knew that there was something more, something else out there for her.  

Since then, Hayley has worked in multiple positions, but to her surprise, she fell in love with geriatrics and working in sales. “When you say things like, ‘I’ll never do geriatrics; I’ll never do whatever,’ the Lord laughs at you and that’s where you end up,” she says. 

Today, Hayley serves as Hospice Division Manager for Encompass Health in Jasper. Helping people get the care they need and teaching her team the ins and outs of hospice is what drives her dedication to her work.

As a mother of two boys, Hayley is passionate about showing young women that they don’t have to choose between being a mother and having a career—a life that Hayley saw her mother model for her. “I want my boys to know that it’s okay for a woman to have an awesome, booming career and be a mom at the same time,” she says. 

Juggling so many responsibilities is not easy, but for Hayley, it is a blessing and an environment in which she thrives. With the support of her family and her strong faith in God, she looks forward to the years ahead, confident that the Lord will continue to direct her steps. 

“The Lord has just led me to each place every time,” she says. “It’s more than I could have ever dreamed.” 78