Promotions
Congrats to Our HR Team Members on Their Promotions!
July 6, 2023–Congratulations to Human Resources team members, Andrew Wise, Kristen Rosen, Christina Bitton, and Grace Martin, who have each received promotions, effective Wednesday, June 28, 2023! Read more about each below. Andrew Wise has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Learning & Development, Culture and Inclusion. The Learning & Development function is an addition to his responsibilities. Maria Jackson will report to him. Kristen Rosen has been promoted to Associate Director, Talent Acquisition reporting to Gail Thakarar in the interim, while a search is conducted for a VP, Talent Acquisition. Christina Bitton has been promoted to Manager, Talent Acquisition, managing the Clinical Hub. Grace Martin has been promoted to Manager, Talent Acquisition, managing the HHA and Business hub.
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Patricia Payne-Marsky, Behavioral Health Promotion
September 1, 2022–Patricia Payne-Marsky, LCSW-R, is a seasoned social work clinician, supervisor, and administrator, whose heart has always been in working in the community mental health field in New York City. A graduate of NYU and the Hunter School of Social Work, she began her undergraduate work with homebound older adults, adult chronically mentally ill, and homeless populations. After receiving advanced clinical training in child psychotherapy, she has dedicated most of her career to treating childhood mental health disorders and working with underserved families in the inner-city in both agency and private practice. This interest led her to accept the position that brought her to VNS in September 2019 to launch the Pathway Home Program for the Behavioral Health (BH) division where she has been serving as Program Manager. She is now very excited to be accepting the position of Associate Director of Treatment Programs where she will have oversight of BH
Natasha Dixon, Behavioral Health Promotion
September 1, 2022–Natasha M. Dixon, LMSW, is a first generation American, of Jamaican descent, born and raised in New York City. Natasha has over 18 years of experience in the mental health field. She received her Master’s in Social Work from Hunter College and her Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, with a concentration in Sociology, from St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, NY. Natasha began her career as a Residential Counselor in a Catholic Charities program serving adults with serious mental illness. In August of 2008, Natasha started at VNS Health as an Intensive Case Manager (ICM) and transitioned to what is now called the Health Home. She became a Program Coordinator in the Health Home and most recently a Program Manager. In that role, Natasha provided oversight and management of the Health Home Program, staff, and assisted with the quality measures for client care and delivery of services. In her new
Sabrina Williams, MEU Promotion, VNS Health MSO
July 21, 2022–As part of the ongoing transformation of Membership Operations (MEU) and the MSO expansion, we are delighted to announce the promotion of Sabrina Williams to Associate Director, Membership Operations. Over the past 10 years, Sabrina has held multiple positions with increasing responsibilities and has demonstrated her commitment to continuous improvement in Medicaid operations through successful process changes and initiatives. Under her leadership, the Medicaid Recertification Team has transformed and expanded with a high success rate at maintaining the Medicaid coverages of our members. Sabrina will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Medicaid Recertification team but will also be responsible for the CDPAS team and, eventually, the centralized Medicaid Operations team. We are confident that Sabrina will continue to manage these teams successfully. Please join us in congratulating Sabrina on her new role!
Elsa Lam, VNS Health Home Care Promotion
July 13, 2022–We are excited to announce that Elsa Lam has been promoted to Vice President, Patient Care Services within VNS Health Home Care. A 20-year veteran of the organization, Elsa has been with VNS Health since November 2001. Most recently, she served as Branch Director of Home Care Branch 1 in Westchester. Elsa graduated from the College of New Rochelle with a BSN, and completed her MSN in Informatics this past February. She was also the recipient of the 2017 Marilyn Liota Award, one of VNS Health’s highest nursing honors. In her new position, Elsa will be responsible for planning, directing and evaluating VNS Health Home Care’s operations for Manhattan, the Bronx and Westchester. Her role will include managing financial metrics and developing and implementing strategic goals and objectives for these regions, as well as collaborating with Quality Management Services in developing and revising policies and procedures relating to delivery of
Carolina Arias, Accounting Promotion
June 29, 2022–We are excited to announce that Carolina Arias has been promoted to Accounting Supervisor within the General Accounting Department. Her team will be responsible for the invoicing and tracking of expenses for all of the Behavioral Health grant-funded contracts. She will be the main liaison for the audits related to the Behavioral Health grants and will assist in external reporting for those grants as needed. Carolina joined VNS Health in August 2020 as a Senior Accountant. She has a Masters in Accounting from Hunter College and had previously worked at Safe Horizon, Inc., a non-profit organization supporting victims of violence. Her prior experience with several different funding streams has provided great insight into best practices and procedure modifications to make our processes more efficient. Please join us in congratulating Carolina on her promotion!
Patricia Kissi, Behavioral Health Promotion
June 23, 2022–Congratulations to Patricia Kissi, who has been promoted to Director, Treatment Programs for Behavioral Health! Patricia (Tricia) Kissi-Nuamah, MS, MHC is a Ghanaian-born American who feels her mission in life is to provide quality care to the most vulnerable population. She has over 15 years of professional experience in providing comprehensive services to clients with serious and persistent mental illness. She was trained in both Mental Health Counseling and New York State School Counseling. She received her B.S. in English Literature from the State University of New York at Oswego and her MS in Counseling from Pace University, Pleasantville, NY. Tricia has served in a number of leadership capacities in her career, working with the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities, and the Office of Mental Health. She is currently the Associate Director for the Behavioral Health Bronx Children’s programs. In her new role, Tricia
Deirdré DeLeo, Behavioral Health Promotion
June 23, 2022–Congratulations to Deirdré DeLeo, who has been promoted to Director, Crisis & Assessment Programs, for Behavioral Health! Deirdré DeLeo, MA LCSW has almost 30 years of experience in the mental health field. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Physical Anthropology from Queens College then went on to earn two Master’s degrees, one in forensic psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York and the other in social work from Adelphi University. She has worked in numerous settings, including residential facilities, prisons, and a mental health hotline. Currently, she is an Associate Director in VNS Health Behavioral Health and oversees Crisis, Geriatrics, and Intensive the Mobile Treatment (IMT) program. In her new role, Deirdré will be responsible for overseeing the operations of Behavioral Health crisis and assessment programs, including clinical and administrative functions, utilization and management of staff, and quality of
Risikat Amolegbe, Behavioral Health Promotion
June 23, 2022–Congratulations to Risikat Amolegbe, who has been promoted to Director, Care Management, City and State Programs for Behavioral Health! Risikat Amolegbe, CRC, has over 18 years of experience in the field of social service and is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC). Risi holds a Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from Hunter College and Bachelor’s degree in Computer information Science from Brooklyn. Risi joined VNS Health in 2003 as a Vocational Clinical Case Manager with the Comprehensive Care Management program and until recently was the Director of the Wellness Care Management program. In that role, she managed 80 staff who provided wellness case management services for cash assistance clients that are deemed to be temporarily unable to work due to an unstable or untreated medical and/or mental health issues. In her new role, Risi will be responsible for overseeing the operations of Behavioral Health care management state and city programs, including
Thomas Laverack, Behavioral Health Promotion
June 23, 2022–Congratulations to Thomas Laverack, who has been promoted to Associate Vice President, Behavioral Health Operations! Tom Laverack, LCSW received his BA from UMass/Amherst and his MS from the Columbia School of Social Work. In the early part of his career at VNS Health, Tom worked in the Intensive Case Management program, the Home Based Crisis Intervention program, and the Bronx Geriatrics program. After earning his Master’s Degree, he ran the Bronx Outreach Team for the Homeless for five years before moving into a Program Manager role overseeing the Brooklyn/Queens region and the Adult Mental Health Program based in Brooklyn. Since 2005, Tom has worked in BH Central Administration as the Director of Operations, and most recently, the Director of Financial and Administrative Analysis. Outside the office, he plays guitar and is a singer-songwriter. With a partner, he started an indie record label in 2007. He’s a proud father of a