Meet The 2018 ESPRIT Award Winners
Miriam Martinez, Associate Director, Partners in Care, CHOICE MLTC
November 27, 2018–A Vital Bridge from Patient Assessment to Home Care This autumn marks 31 years at VNSNY for Miriam Martinez. She worked for Family Care Services (FCS) for 27 years, then moved to Partners in Care when it took on management of FCS in 2014. Beginning this year, she and her staff of eight shifted from clinical management to focus on handling the back-end compliance work that helps keep Partners in Care nurses in the field, assessing the needs and status of CHOICE Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) health plan members and arranging for vital home health aide (HHA) services. They schedule nursing visits, monitor that the nursing visits take place in timely fashion, and review the nurses’ patient assessment documentation as well as the physician authorization forms used by the nurses to request doctors’ approval of HHA services for the patient. In the course of their work, Miriam and her
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Shannon Harris, Hospice Physician Fellowship and Medical Staffing Coordinator
November 27, 2018–Training the Next Generation of Hospice Clinicians If Shannon Harris had a mantra, it could be: “Proper planning prevents poor performance.” The message, quoted from another staffer in a VNSNY online profile, is written on a Post It note that Shannon has taped to her computer monitor. Shannon not only manages all operational aspects of VNSNY’s Hospice Fellowship Training Program but was instrumental in restructuring it as well. The program provides hands-on hospice clinical training and experience for several dozen interdisciplinary clinician fellows (mainly physicians) each year, making it the largest program of its kind in the nation. Shannon also coordinates shorter rotation experiences for Mount Sinai Family Medicine Residents, Columbia University medical students, and other visiting scholars. Her critical support to hospice medical staff and the department at large includes maintaining and distributing the weekly on-call schedule. How does Shannon manage all the moving parts? “I’m a list person who’s
Sharon Paul, Public Health Nurse
November 27, 2018–Connecting with Patients “On a Very Deep Level” Sharon Paul says she knew from a young age that she wanted to work in the medical field. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and today she works as a VNSNY Nurse Care Coordinator in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, bringing together the various interdisciplinary care team members as needed and keeping the gears running neighborhood-wide. Whenever a newly opened case begins to unfold, Sharon says she finds it “gratifying to bring everything in line for the sake of the patient.” That includes educating patients on how to manage their condition, she notes. “Nothing pleases me more than teaching patients how to manage their disease and, in the end, watching them manage it on their own.” In addition to providing care coordination and patient support, Sharon spends about half of her time out in the field. “I love
Dakota Bentham-Cormier, Supervisor, Service Operations, CHOICE Medicare Advantage Care Management
November 27, 2018–“A Perfect Example of a Team Leader” Supervising a bustling call center, managing issues with CHOICE plan members as they arise, and working with staff across VNSNY—as well as vendors and others outside the organization—are a daily fact of life for Dakota Bentham-Cormier. She wouldn’t have it any other way. “I like a challenge, solving problems and helping colleagues resolve issues,” she says. An avid note-taker and chart-maker, she’s often referred to by her colleagues as a subject-matter expert. Punctuality is a key part of her strategy. “I can’t be late,” she notes. “My official start time is 9:00 but I’m in the office at 7:30, doing my reports, starting my logs, doing whatever needs to be done before my staff comes in. It gives me time to settle in before the challenges of the day take over.” When she first joined CHOICE three years ago after 18 years at
Anthony Soto, Assistant Manager Data Center, IT Service Delivery
November 27, 2018–Putting Staff and Customers First Now in his 14th year at VNSNY, Anthony Soto is the definition of a team player. “Anthony works long hours and always volunteers for projects and tasks that involve late nights and travel to the data centers,” notes one of his ESPRIT nominating letters. “He does this because he understands that this work needs to be done for our patients, members, and clients.” Anthony himself gives all the credit for work successfully accomplished to the following Teams: IS Operations, IS Production, Enterprise Service Group – Intel, and IT Telecom Group. “They manage the company’s mainframe, servers, and network, and basically keep all systems running 24/7,” says Anthony.“Most of my nine staff members have worked for VNSNY for 20 to 30 years. We work fantastically as a team, looking out for each other. Along the way we’ve become friends, which makes VNSNY a very nice place to