Provider Services
May 2022 Patient Letters
April 28, 2022–Our VNSNY colleagues continue to prove how resilient, dedicated and just plain amazing the entire VNSNY organization is! The following are excerpts from a few of the many recent letters, phone calls, and emails we’ve received from grateful patients and clients as well as family members that reflect an outstanding consumer experience. Bronx Thank You for the Wonderful Care! “I am writing to thank you for the wonderful care I received from your nurse, Sultana Alibasic,” wrote one Bronx home care patient. “My primary care physician connected me to VNSNY to care for a huge open wound that did not heal properly from abdominal surgery. Sultana treated me almost daily for over a month and would not discharge me until the wound was 100% healed.” The patient described Sultana as kind, caring and professional. “I am very grateful to Sultana and always looked forward to her visits. She wasn’t just
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VNSNY Hospice Continues to Grow!
April 3, 2019–VNSNY Hospice and Palliative Care continues to build on its record-breaking census numbers. Last week it was announced that patients with Compassionate Care Hospice, which is ceasing operations in its Brooklyn and Bronx offices on June 30, will have the option of transitioning from those hospice programs to VNSNY Hospice. “Compassionate Care has a closure plan in place with the New York State Department of Health for their Brooklyn and Bronx locations,” says Rosemary Baughn, Senior Vice President, Hospice and Palliative Care. “As part of this arrangement, VNSNY is prepared to take on any patients who elect to move their care to VNSNY Hospice.” Compassionate Care, which has offices in over 20 states, was acquired by the national home care company Amedisys earlier this year. “The fact that Amedisys chose us as an organization to partner with, during what is a very difficult process of closing a hospice location, speaks
March 2019 Patient Letters
March 13, 2019–The following are excerpts from a few of the many recent letters, phone calls, and emails that we’ve received from grateful patients and family members. Together, they reflect the outstanding work done each and every day by VNSNY’s entire frontline staff. Brooklyn—A patient recovering from hip surgery expressed her thanks to physical therapist Zarif Guirgez by creating a special handmade certificate attesting that Zarif had “greatly helped” in her recuperation. Manhattan—The father of a patient wrote to say that his daughter, “a successful exercise trainer and yoga teacher,” had fallen and badly broken her leg. The hospital where she’d been operated on referred her to VNSNY for home nursing care and physical therapy. “Today, I received an email and a phone call from her saying that her physical therapist, Mike Dalton, and her nurse, Wanda Gonzales, both from Manhattan Branch Team 6, are superb, professional, caring, and thoughtful, and have made recovery
Important News for VNSNY Clinicians: Two New FREE Online Care Management Training Cohorts Have Been Announced
February 20, 2019–Dates have now been set for the third and fourth cohorts of VNSNY’s free online care management training course for clinicians. The third cohort will start on Wednesday, February 27th from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will then take place on each consecutive Wednesday at that time for the next 10 weeks. The fourth cohort will start on Tuesday, April 1st at 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. and will take place each Tuesday at that time for the next 10 weeks. These webinars, offered through New York State’s Workforce Investment Organization (WIO) initiative, are open to all VNSNY clinicians—nurses, rehabilitation therapists, social workers, physicians—throughout VNSNY. VNSNY’s first two cohorts, launched last month, have drawn about 250 participants. Care management is the future of home health care—so you don’t want to miss this free webinar! To register, simply click your preferred cohort: Cohort 3 (February 27 – May 1st) or Cohort
Partners in Care Expands Presence in NYC’s Chinese-American Community with Acquisition of Prestige and All Seasons LHCSAs
January 31, 2019–Partners in Care, VNSNY’s licensed home care services agency (LHCSA), has acquired two other New York City-based LHCSAs, the sister agencies Prestige and All Seasons. This acquisition adds another 1,218 home health aides (HHAs) to Partners in Care’s staff—increasing the agency’s total HHA workforce to over 11,000—and also expands its customer base by 739 new clients. Both agencies primarily serve New York City’s Chinese-American residents, and most of the newly acquired HHAs speak either Mandarin or Cantonese. “VNSNY and Partners in Care already have a strong presence among the city’s Asian-American communities,” notes Jennifer Brullo, Senior Vice President for Partners in Care. “The addition of our newest HHAs, with their diverse language skills, further enhances our ability to care for this culturally important population.” The acquisition also benefits Partners in Care in other ways, says Jennifer. “As more LHCSAs try to enter the New York-area market, our ability to continue
VNSNY Hospice Reports Record-Setting Growth
January 9, 2019–While New York State as a whole continues to lag the nation in utilizing end-of-life hospice services, VNSNY Hospice and Palliative Care is bucking that trend: Last June, the division’s average monthly census topped 1,100 patients for the first time—and since then, its average patient census has continued to show a month-over-month rise. This trajectory builds on the division’s steady growth in recent years: Overall, VNSNY Hospice has seen an increase of 28% in its average patient census from 2015 to the present. “As the only hospice provider serving all five boroughs of New York City, this trend is great news for VNSNY Hospice and for the populations we serve,” says Rosemary Baughn, VNSNY’s Senior Vice President for Hospice and Palliative Care. VNSNY Hospice’s continuing uptick in its census numbers reflects a multifaceted strategy, adds Rosemary, including the division’s ongoing efforts to raise awareness among New York City residents and
January 2019 Patient Letters
January 9, 2019–The following are excerpts from a few of the many recent letters, phone calls, and emails that we’ve received from grateful patients and family members. Together, they reflect the outstanding work done each and every day by VNSNY’s entire frontline staff. Bronx—A grateful patient’s family phoned to compliment physical therapist Sherry Adjapong for her outstanding work, stating that she is “a wonderful therapist.” The husband of another Bronx patient called to say that psychiatric nurse Yolanda Harmon was “excellent,” and that he would like to request her care again going forward. Manhattan—A Manhattan hip replacement patient posted a note with accompanying photo on his Facebook page, expressing his gratitude for the care provided by physical therapist Linton Peixoto. “Many thanks to Linton, my Visiting Nurse Service of New York P.T.,” he wrote. “Today, we took the spiral staircase up to the roof and then went for a stroll around the block.
September/October 2018 Patient Letters
October 26, 2018–The following are excerpts from a few of the many recent letters, phone calls, and emails that we’ve received from grateful patients and family members. Together, they reflect the outstanding work done each and every day by VNSNY’s entire frontline staff. Bronx—A Bronx resident wrote the following note to Rosemary Baughn, Senior Vice President of VNSNY Hospice and Palliative Care: “Enclosed please find a donation to VNSNY Hospice & Palliative Care in honor of Rosalie Galante, RN and in memory of my mom, who died earlier this year. My mom would have celebrated her 92nd birthday today. We could not have been more fortunate than to meet Rosalie, the perfect match for my mom. They shared a strong, commanding presence and got things done with what seemed to be ease but, in fact, took great skill and hard work. They also shared an affection for their Yankees. VNSNY Hospice provided support
An Interview with EVP and Chief of Provider Services, Andria Castellanos
October 18, 2018–On October 1st, Andria Castellanos joined VNSNY as the new head of Provider Services, with oversight responsibility for VNSNY Home Care and Hospice, Partners in Care, Community Mental Health Services, and VNSNY’s Population Health and Business Development groups. Q: Welcome to VNSNY! You arrived just as much of the organization’s Manhattan workforce was moving into the new office at 220 East 42nd Street. What was that like? Starting my first day in the new space was great, because I didn’t feel like the new person. Everyone was trying to learn where the bathrooms and the coffee machines were, so I was already a part of the rhythm of the building. It made my transition much easier! The space is modern and beautiful, and thanks to the hard work of our Facilities and IT teams the move happened seamlessly. Q: Previously you served in a number of important leadership roles at
Meet Our Seven Rehab Therapists of the Year!
October 3, 2018–As part of National Rehabilitation Awareness Week, which officially ended on September 22nd, VNSNY has announced the selection of our 2018 Rehabilitation Therapists of the Year. Chosen to represent each of VNSNY Home Care’s seven regions, these therapists exemplify the outstanding work done by all of VNSNY’s physical, occupational and speech therapists and therapist assistants, day in and day out. Here are this year’s Therapist of the Year awardees: Justin Chilesky, Coordinator of Physical Therapy Services, Manhattan “What I love about my work is that I get to work with patients for a decent amount of time and really see them advance themselves in their recovery,” says Justin Chilesky. “Watching patients make progress and improve is very satisfying.” In 2011, Justin became the first therapist to work for VNSNY straight out of graduate school, thanks to a newly launched program. “Until then, everyone had to have two years of experience