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See the Photos, a Video, and a Recording of the 2025 VNS Health Annual Awards Ceremony!
November 4, 2025–On Monday, October 27, team members from across the organization gathered for a very special evening to celebrate 38 team members who were honored at our 2025 VNS Health Annual Awards Ceremony. Over 400 people also watched the celebration simultaneously through a live-stream link. Now you can see the celebration photos, watch a video about the event, and watch a recording of the full celebration. Congratulations to all the team members who were honored! Here is a video highlighting the event with Charity Shubert reporting! Here is a recording of the awards ceremony: To see our 2025 VNS Health Award winners and read their stories, click here! To see a complete list of all the nominees, click here!
Announcing Our 2025 VNS Health Award Winners!
October 27, 2025–Read Their Stories and See the Full List of Nominees! Last night, on Monday, October 27, team members from across the organization were recognized and celebrated as the very best of the best in exemplifying VNS Health’s mission and Core Values of Empathy, Integrity and Agility! The event included those who had received awards earlier in the year, as well as presentations to the newly announced winners of the Phyllis Mills Living Legend Award, the ESPRIT Awards, and the VNS Health Outstanding Team Performance Award. To see all the team members who were nominated for these awards, click here. Congratulations to all of this year’s award winners! Click on their names here below to read more about them and their award. Home Care Nurse Preceptor Team 2025 Outstanding Team Performance Award Teresa Lin 2025 Phyllis Mills Living Legend Award (Click here for the finalists.) Michael Alcantara 2025 ESPRIT Award Jonelle
Meet Our 2025 ESPRIT Award Winner: Dr. Eugene Perlov
October 27, 2025–A VNS Health Hospice Team Physician, Dr. Eugene Perlov leads two interdisciplinary hospice teams in the Bronx. In his more than two decades of dedicated service at the organization, Eugene has helped guide adult and pediatric patients and their families through some of life’s most challenging moments. “Hospice builds a safe space during a vulnerable time,” he says. “We work to bring comfort, transforming stress into growth, and offer steady presence and support to both patients and their loved ones.” Eugene blends clinical expertise with a profound sensitivity to the emotional and spiritual dimensions of end-of-life work. In conversations with families, he sets clear expectations while honoring their experience. “We remind the family that they’re doing an incredible job in a very hard time,” he says. “My goal is to help them find peace and move toward acceptance.” Colleagues describe Eugene as a thoughtful listener and a creative problem-solver, especially
Meet Our 2025 ESPRIT Award Winner: Piotr Kapela
October 27, 2025–Little things matter to Piotr Kapela. As a Statistical Programmer/Analyst at VNS Health’s Center for Home Care Policy & Research, he often goes over things twice just to make sure nothing is missing. “A compulsive personality is good for my profession, because it’s all about the details,” he explains. For nearly four years, Piotr has helped to make life-changing research possible. He builds custom solutions—data pipelines, security protocols, privacy protections—for the Research Center’s unique needs. “We’re very grateful that we’re able to use patient data, because it is so instrumental in the research,” he says. “At the same time, with health care data, we are very mindful of protecting privacy, and a lot of effort goes into this.” Piotr’s meticulous approach extends to his collaborations. When implementing a new database system, Piotr sets up regular meetings with project managers and analysts, gathering input and redesigning entire forms. He’s also created
Meet Our 2025 Phyllis Mills Living Legend Award Winner: Teresa Lin
October 27, 2025–Teresa Lin was waiting for a subway at Times Square not long ago when a police officer approached and asked, “Are you Teresa Lin?” The officer explained that 25 years earlier, he’d been a teenage hospital volunteer. His grandmother had been a co-worker where Teresa worked, and he remembered her. He thanked her, saying his grandmother had always spoken fondly of her. “I was speechless,” Teresa recalls. “It reminded me that every interaction matters. You never know the impact you’ll have. That experience reaffirmed for me the importance of treating everyone with kindness and respect, regardless of title or circumstance.” This philosophy, along with her religious faith, has guided Teresa’s nearly 30 years in health care and her 16-plus years at VNS Health—a career that she’s now being honored for with the 2025 Phyllis Mills Living Legend Award. The award recognizes a team member with at least a decade of
Meet the Winner of Our New Outstanding Team Performance Award
October 27, 2025–Every year, VNS Health honors individual team members from across the organization for their dedication and commitment to our mission and core values. This year, for the very first time, we are also giving out an award for Outstanding Team Performance. This brand-new award salutes a team that has gone above and beyond and worked collaboratively with each other and/or other departments, demonstrating commitment to innovation and/or success of the organization. In all, 26 teams from all parts of our organization were nominated for the award. A committee of team members then reviewed the nominations. While it wasn’t easy, after much discussion, the committee came up with a list of finalists that they then narrowed down to one winner. To view the full list of nominated teams and finalists, click here. And now we’re excited to share that this year’s inaugural award goes to… Home Care’s Nurse Preceptor team! This
Meet Our 2025 ESPRIT Award Winner: Cheryl Tang
October 27, 2025–In her role as Associate Director of Membership Eligibility and Analytics for our Health Plans, Cheryl knows that behind every eligibility file is a recently discharged patient who needs their medications and requires home care. “I work with a lot of data,” she says. “But what really matters is making sure the member’s eligibility is correct and everything goes smoothly for them, so they’re able to get what they need.” For nearly 16 years, Cheryl has made it her mission to ensure that the data she handles translates into care that VNS Health’s plan members can count on. When it comes to supporting members, she says, what she values most is that “we’re helping the community, especially the elderly.” Cheryl’s Health Plans colleagues value her hands-on leadership, which encompasses three teams: Disenrollment, Specialists, and Placement. As one of her nominators puts it, “She answers my questions, jumps on calls when
Meet Our 2025 ESPRIT Award Winner: Tracey Egbo
October 27, 2025–“When you lead with our Core Values of Empathy and Integrity,” says ESPRIT Award winner Tracey Egbo, “you can accomplish so much, even transform a team’s culture.” Tracey, who is a Cost Containment Analyst in Claims for our Health Plans, uses this Core Values approach to support her colleagues, creating an environment where people feel safe and understood. And while it’s not a Core Value, she’s also very committed to doing things right. For example, when collaborating on a major project with a looming deadline, Tracey discovered a critical flaw that could have compromised quality and safety. She reported it and promptly began working to fix the issue. “I believe in being proactive and trying to come up with solutions, rather than simply being reactive,” she explains. When challenges arise, Tracey is also quick to adapt. During a recent strategic shift, rather than simply tinker with existing frameworks, she convened
Meet Our 2025 ESPRIT Award Winner: Sara Shah
October 27, 2025–The call came in from a wound care patient who was frustrated about their medical condition. By the time the call was escalated to Sara Shah, a Manager with VNS Health’s Contact Center Shared Services (CCSS), the patient was more upset than ever. Sara did what she’s so good at: she listened and understood. The call was from a plan member who had been active in their community but was now homebound and dependent on others for basic needs like dressing a wound. Their frustration was actually an expression of grief—grief over lost independence. “I assured them that this is the time in their life when they need to be open to help,” Sara recalls, “and that the community you’ve been working so hard to support is now coming together to do the same for you.” For Sara, now 12-plus years into her VNS Health career, understanding people’s health care