25 Years Later: Remembering 9/11 and VNS Health’s Response

Walking through the 6th floor lobby of our 220 East 42nd Street office, you’ll see, across from the reception desk, a New York Fire Department helmet displayed in a plexiglass case. The helmet was a gift to VNS Health from Theresa Shalley-Russo, who was working as one of our nurses in 2001 when her husband, firefighter Lieutenant Michael T. Russo, died in the September 11 World Trade Center attacks.

In all, 24 VNS Health team members lost close relatives to the World Trade Center attacks, including six whose family members were firefighters. In addition to those team members’ unimaginable losses, virtually everyone at VNS Health was impacted by the physical and emotional devastation that took place on 9/11.

This Friday marks the 25th anniversary of that tragic day. To honor the anniversary, we thought we’d revisit how VNS Health responded as an organization two-and-a-half decades ago.

As news of the attacks unfolded that morning, New Yorkers watched in shock and disbelief. People filled the streets of Midtown Manhattan, looking south toward the smoke rising from the World Trade Center as emergency vehicles raced downtown, sirens blaring. With businesses closed and public transportation shut down, thousands of people began making their way home on foot. Amid the confusion and uncertainty, it quickly became clear that the city was facing an unprecedented crisis.

At VNS Health, a command center was quickly established to determine how we might continue delivering care to our most vulnerable patients, members and clients despite the enormous obstacles created by the attacks. Team members responded with professionalism and determination, putting aside their own fears and concerns to focus on the New Yorkers who needed them.

At the time, VNS Health had approximately 1,600 patients—many of them medically frail or chronically ill seniors—who lived south of 14th Street, the initial point below which vehicle travel was restricted to emergency rescue personnel only. Some 800 of these patients lived below Canal Street, an area that was evacuated by the authorities. The absence of public transportation, power outages, and difficulty delivering durable equipment and supplies were all challenges our team members had to overcome.

In the days following the attacks, VNS Health nurses, rehabilitation therapists, social workers and home health aides worked to locate and provide essential care to their patients, often traveling by foot and in some cases carrying much-needed groceries and pharmaceuticals.

Meanwhile, the VNS Health leadership team worked closely with each other and with government officials on a number of emergency initiatives that ensured our patients, members and clients received necessary medical supplies, food and shelter.

In addition to caring for our patients, many team members volunteered their time and resources, providing counseling at relief centers, donating blood, clothes, food, supplies and money, or offering thanks to weary relief workers who had been toiling at Ground Zero.

In one of the darkest hours of our history, VNS Health was there as a beacon of hope, empathy and perseverance—just as we have been for over 130 years. This is an extraordinary legacy, and one that, 25 years later, we can all be proud of.

From the Frontline archives: To read a special issue of Frontline that came out shortly after 9-11 and that features accounts from team members of what happened that day, click here.