Employee Awards
Related Articles
Meet Our 2025 ESPRIT Award Winner: Rosa Marcus
October 27, 2025–When a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak hit Harlem over the summer, Rosa Marcus, Director of Support Services for VNS Health Personal Care, moved fast. She pulled together a list of Home Health Aide team members who were working in the affected community and coordinated with her team to quickly get critical safety information out to them. This is the kind of rapid response that Rosa has become known for over her 45 years at VNS Health. Her skills were honed even more sharply during the pandemic: When our offices were closed due to COVID, she helped keep over 6,000 HHA team members regularly updated and feeling engaged, a task she describes as “gargantuan.” What makes Rosa extraordinary isn’t just her longevity—it’s her ability to see both sides of the health care equation. “I deal a lot with patients’ complaints and concerns, and I also deal with the HHAs’ concerns,” she explains.
Meet Our 2025 Physical Therapist of the Year!
October 1, 2025–The following profile of Michael Dolton, the winner of VNS Health’s Physical Therapist of the Year Award, is being published to coincide with October’s National Physical Therapy Month. A total of 17 team members were nominated for this award, and to see a full list of the nominees, please click here. When it comes to rising to a challenge, VNS Health physical therapist Michael Dolton doesn’t look very far for inspiration. “Our patients are such a great role model for us,” he says. “You see how much they overcome and accomplish.” Michael has been named VNS Health’s Physical Therapist of the Year, an honor that recognizes his dedication in helping New Yorkers reclaim their independence. “It’s so rewarding to help patients do the subway stairs or get on the bus when they thought they’d never do that again,” he said. “I love to see them get back their independence, because New
2025 Personal Care Honor Awards: Here’s the Full List – and Photos!
September 30, 2025–The 42nd Annual Personal Care Honor Awards Ceremony was held on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 in midtown Manhattan. Here below are photos of the festive event as well as a complete list of all the Personal Care team members who received Honor Awards. Congratulations to all the winners! Sally Kirton, HHA Supervisor, received the VNS Health Rewards Supervisor Superstar Award. Sally has some of the most challenging cases to fill, yet she and her team achieve remarkable results. She’s also a champion of VNS Health Rewards, recognizing her team often and ensuring that VNS Health’s Home Health Aides know their work matters. She is often praised for her kindness, patience, and compassion — she is truly a caregiver to caregivers. Diana Isabel Cuero Marroquin, HHA, won the VNS Health Rewards Hiring Wizard Award for being, quite simply, a hiring hero! Diana has referred seven new aides to VNS Health —
Meet Our First-Ever Advanced Practice Clinician of the Year!
September 30, 2025–The following profile of Caroline Williams, the winner of VNS Health’s inaugural Rose Madden-Baer Advanced Practice Clinician of the Year Award, is being published to coincide with September’s National Advanced Practice Provider Week that takes place annually during the 4th week in September. A total of 14 team members were nominated for this first-time Advanced Practice Clinician of the Year Award. To see a full list of the nominees, please click here. Over her 18-year career advancing community psychiatry and mental health, Caroline Williams, MD, Chief Psychiatrist and Associate Clinical and Education Director for VNS Health’s Behavioral Health team, has held various leadership roles overseeing teams and training new clinicians. But her first love is frontline care, working directly with individuals who are dealing with behavioral health conditions and related issues. “Seeing patients, trying to take care of them—that is absolutely the most satisfying part of the job for me,” says Caroline,
“When My Clients Are Happy, I’m Happy.” Meet Our 2025 Home Health Aide of the Year Winner!
September 30, 2025–For Karen Williams, being a Personal Care Home Health Aide means showing up every day with a smile—and never giving up. When she tells her clients “I’m not leaving,” she means it. Karen joined VNS Health in 2009 and has provided care and companionship to dozens of clients since then. Currently, she cares for an older couple with dementia, seeing to their groceries, cooking meals, doing laundry, going with them to doctor’s appointments—everything they need so they can continue to live in their home. Although the couple speaks primarily Greek and Karen does not, they understand one another, communicating seamlessly through gestures and intuition. And over the years, she’s also mastered their Greek-style food preferences. Even on her days off, Karen answers her clients’ phone calls and has been known to come in if she can help the care team navigate a complex issue. “They need me,” she says of
Meet Our 2025 Shared Services Contact Center Agent of the Year!
July 9, 2025–Congratulations to Joy Jackson, VNS Health’s 2025 Shared Services Contact Center (CCSS) Agent of the Year! Joy’s award, which was determined by votes from her peers, will be formally presented to her at our annual VNS Health Awards Ceremony in October. You can tell why Joy is being recognized as soon as you meet her. A skilled listener, she’s known for the consistent support she provides to our health plan members as well as for her warmth and unwavering dedication. Whether she’s patiently resolving a complex issue for a plan member or helping out a colleague, Joy’s kindness and professionalism are always on display. Joy joined VNS Health Health Plans in September 2018 as a temporary employee and was quickly recognized for her ability to connect with plan members. During the pandemic, she transitioned to a permanent role on the MLTC support team before moving over to the Medicare
Meet Our 2025 Speech-Language Pathologist of the Year!
May 22, 2025–VNS Health’s 2025 Speech-Language Pathologist of the Year has been revealed: It’s Jennifer Hansen—and the announcement is sure to generate a round of applause across Staten Island. One of just two VNS Health speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Staten Island and a resident of the borough herself, Jennifer treats all her patients like family. “Everyone knows everyone here,” she says. “Sometimes I’ll find I know a patient’s daughter, or I may have cared for the patient’s aunt or cousin. They all feel like family.” Jennifer has been with VNS Health Home Care for 19 years, and she finds every day rewarding, especially now that she’s past the hustle and bustle of raising young kids and being new on the job. What she loves most about her work is that she’s making a difference in the lives of her clients. They’re often isolated and lonely when she first meets them—they may be
Meet Our 2025 Nurse of the Year!
May 1, 2025–Breaking news… Bronx Home Care Nurse Jean Verlus has been selected as VNS Health’s 2025 Nurse of the Year! A total of 44 team members were nominated for this first-time Nurse of the Year award. To see the full list of nominees, click here. Jean has been with VNS Health for over 32 years and has worked with patients all over New York City. He currently provides care to patients in the South Bronx, in the very same neighborhood near Yankee Stadium that he has lived in, or in the vicinity of, for over 40 years. Clearly, Jean is part of the fabric of the community. It’s a source of great pride to Jean to provide care to patients in their homes so that they can continue to live in their community. “These patients really need us,” he says. “Many are so sick when they come home from the hospital.
Meet Our 2025 Occupational Therapist of the Year: Cecile Hall!
April 24, 2025–For Cecile Hall, our 2025 Occupational Therapist of the Year, the work is about listening and observing closely, so she can meet patients where they are and help them get where they want to go. Cecile, who’s been with VNS Health for 13-plus years and was recently promoted to Senior OT in Bronx Home Care’s Branch 2, recalls working with a man who did not want to do therapy when they first met—but then, being agile, she spied dominos in the man’s apartment. Her uncles had taught her the game, and her interest in them piqued her patient’s interest. “It really broke the ice, to go one-on-one with him in a game he loved,” she says. “That’s what we call in the OT world ‘therapeutic use of self.’” Cecile calls herself a “Bronx girl.” She was born on the island of Jamaica and spent her earliest years in England before