Spotlight on Terri Meldrum, Chief Legal and Risk Officer

Last November, Terri Meldrum joined VNS Health as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal and Risk Officer. Terri’s previous experience includes more than two decades as in-house counsel for OhioHealth Corporation, a large, nationally recognized, not-for-profit acute care health care system. Recently, Frontline spoke with Terri to learn more about her.

You’ve been at VNS Health for over 10 months. How is it going so far?

Being part of VNS Health has been everything I thought it would be. This is a great organization with amazing people doing really challenging work. So it’s been fun. I also want to give a shout out to my colleagues in Legal and Compliance—we have a great team!

You lived and worked in Ohio before coming here. What drew you to our organization?

I’ve always been drawn towards work that’s mission-focused—and that rings especially true for VNS Health. It’s nice to be in an organization where you can see the impact of the work right away. This is an exciting opportunity to help a strong community asset grow.

What, if anything, has surprised you about VNS Health?

I wouldn’t say it surprised me, since I knew coming here that people at VNS Health were dedicated to the mission—but everyone’s commitment to the people we serve really is an overwhelming characteristic of the organization. It’s a lovely thing to see.

As Chief Legal and Risk Officer, what is your vision for VNS Health over the next few years?

VNS Health is well-situated to be a leader in redefining what health care is, not only in New York but across the country. I think we have a unique opportunity to create a front-door model for health care that isn’t an Emergency Department, and I’m excited to work with our leadership team and the organization as a whole to figure out how we make that happen. I also look forward to helping implement our strategy for growth, which is a lot of what I did at my previous organization. That includes continuing to find compliant and legal ways to make the One VNS Health continuum come to life for our patients, members and clients.

How do you see your own team’s role in implementing this strategy?

Our job is to make sure that as we move forward and grow, we implement VNS Health’s strategy in a way that is compliant with the myriad of complex rules and regulations that impact our organization. One of the key pillars of our strategy is operational excellence—and you can’t have operational excellence if you aren’t mindful of the regulatory framework that guides us. That really is the backbone of a lot of the work that people at VNS Health do. So it’s important that we all see compliance and legal as part of our work.

On a personal level, what do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?

I’ve got two adult daughters, and I love being with them when I can. I love to travel as well, and I like to exercise. I’m also a knitter. I knit everything you can think of: sweaters, blankets, hats, scarves, mittens, socks, whatever. It’s very therapeutic. When my kids and my husband are watching sports, I knit.

How do you find New York City, now that you’re living here?

I love the people and how welcoming they are. Everyone here is super proud of their city. I tell people I’m new and they’re immediately my best friend, offering advice about this and that. When you live outside the New York City area, you have this perception that the people here aren’t going to be so friendly. So that was a big surprise for me. I describe the city to people back in Ohio this way: In New York, the big things are really easy—like going to the theater and museums. It’s the little things that are hard, like knowing where to buy a bathmat… it took me three months to find a bathmat! Amazon is my new go-to resource. So learning how to navigate those little things has been an adventure!