Here They Are: Our Autumn News Briefs!
Here is the latest edition of News Briefs—a quick and easy way to catch up on news, updates, and happenings across the organization over the past few months.
If you have any news or announcements that you’d like to submit for consideration in an upcoming edition, please click here.
The Mystery of the 72-Year-Old Egg
Many years ago, John Amalfitano, a BSC in VNS Health’s MD Orders Department, helped an elderly neighbor who needed assistance in locating something he’d packed away. The neighbor—artist, stage designer and modern-dance choreographer Miller Richardson—had about 13 rooms filled with elaborately organized boxes full of memorabilia. “As I was searching, I came across an ink-bottle box from the 1950s, and in it, neatly wrapped in tissue, was an egg with writing on it,” remembers John, who’s worked at VNS Health for 33 years. Scribbled on the egg in pencil were the words “Whoever gets this egg, please write me. Miss Mary Foss, Forest City, Iowa, April 2, 1951.” “I asked Miller about it, and he told me that it was from a crate of a dozen eggs he’d bought in Manhattan in 1951,” John recalls. “I was intrigued by the egg, so he gave it to me, saying that he knew I’d take good care of it.” (Mr. Richardson died in 2012.)
What happened next is an amazing story—in fact, it was written up in the Washington Post. To read about the rest of John’s egg-cellent adventure, click here.
Nurse-Family Partnership Alums Gather at the New York Public Library
On August 19th, the New York Public Library’s Grand Concourse branch in the Bronx hosted VNS Health’s first in-person meeting for members of the recently created Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) Alumni Alliance. Seven families attended, including a number of children aged nine months to six years old. As the kids were kept entertained with games, parents had the opportunity to sign up for library cards. The branch’s librarians then narrated a bilingual story time, which was followed by a luncheon. All guests left with giveaway bags containing beauty products for the moms and play activities for the children.
“It was a great opportunity for NFP graduates to update us on their lives, connect with other alumni, and provide feedback about the alumni program,” reports Carol Odonha, who heads VNS Health’s NFP programs in the Bronx and Nassau. Also in attendance were Joan and Bob Easton, longtime NFP supporters, whose financial support made the NFP Alumni Alliance possible. See the photos here!
Here They Are – Our Latest ABCD and Initiative Award Winners!
From April through August, 614 team members received ABCD and Initiative Awards.
VNS Health Team Members Enjoy a Game at Yankee Stadium and Raise Money for Behavioral Health
On Thursday, September 7th, VNS Health team members convened for a fun-filled evening at Yankee Stadium, where they watched the Yankees take on the Detroit Tigers. Perks included Yankees-VNS Health hats for all attendees, plus pre-game food and drinks for first-tier participants. A portion of every ticket sold benefited VNS Health’s Behavioral Health programs, raising a total of $1,560.
“With so many of us working remotely, I realized it had been a long time since VNS Health colleagues got together in person to have fun,” says Vincent Flaherty, Manager, Contact Center Shared Services (CCSS), who came up with the idea for the outing. “I had a lot of help in putting this together,” he added. “I especially want to thank Saman Mey (Manager, Network Development & Contracting), Jeff Ribakoff (Associate Director, Product Management) and Danayde Sosa (Contact Center Agent II).” If you missed this year’s outing, don’t worry: “We’re going to do this next year as well,” says Vincent. “So stay tuned!” See the photos here!
VNS Health Awarded $4M to Expand Behavioral Health Services in the South Bronx
VNS Health has received an award of $4 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ SAMSHA division to expand access to integrated substance use and mental health care for residents of the South Bronx. This funding, which is being awarded in increments of $1 million per year over the next four years, will be used by the Behavioral Health team to open a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), providing rapid access to whole-person behavioral health care regardless of an individual’s ability to pay. The award is one of 128 grants awarded nationwide to establish CCBHCs in high-need areas across the country.
The need for this new VNS Health clinic is especially urgent given the growing mental health and opioid crises in the South Bronx. This area has the highest overdose mortality rate in New York City, 85% of which involved opioids. Additionally, 16.7% of South Bronx residents experience depression, with this rate even greater for youth. Data also shows there are far fewer mental health treatment facilities in large low-income neighborhoods like the South Bronx.
To read more about the grant, click here.
VNS Health Researchers Publish Study on Caregiver Continuity and Language Barriers
A just-published study in the journal Medical Care has found that for people with limited English communication skills, having the same home health nurse across multiple visits significantly decreases hospital readmissions, regardless of whether the patient and nurse speak the same language. The study’s co-authors include two VNS Health team members: Margaret McDonald, Associate Vice President, Center for Home Care Policy & Research, and Penny Feldman, Emeritus Director and Senior Research Scientist. The research project was led by Allison Squires, a professor at NYU’s Rory Meyer College of Nursing.
Click here to read an article about the study and its findings.
New “Helpful” App Empowers Family Caregivers
In a step aimed at empowering family caregivers of its health plan members, VNS Health is introducing a new app that allows caregivers to connect with their loved ones’ health insurance benefits and medical records, as well as educational resources related to various health conditions—all in a single location. The app, called Helpful, is available now to health plan members’ families. It can downloaded on the App Store and Google Play, and can also be accessed via the web.
Click here for more information on the Helpful app—and click here to visit Helpful’s customized landing page for caregivers of VNS Health plan members.
VNS Health Patients, Plan Members and Clients Now Have a New, Easier Way to Pay
As of this summer, InstaMed, a convenient, consolidated payment portal for medical bills and health plan co-payments, can now be used as a payment option by VNS Health Home Care and Hospice patients, Personal Care clients, and MLTC and Total health plan members. The secure, HIPAA-compliant portal provides patients, members and clients with 24-hour access to view statements and pay their health care bills on any device, including their mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. The portal will also help reduce the number of calls to our call center and enhance the patient, member and client experience.
Making A Difference in Patients’ Lives: VNS Health Clinicians Share Their Stories
In the latest episode of “Ask VNS Health,” Home Care team members share how they are living VNS Health’s mission through the care they deliver each day.
Missed a CEO Zoom? Catch it on Frontline!
Missed the last CEO Zoom? Want to rehear what Dan said in his August CEO Zoom? Now you can! Click here for recordings of Dan’s recent CEO Zooms, including his latest one on October 10th.
Congrats to Our Newest Nurse Residency Graduates!
Congratulations to nurses Angela Lombardi and Robert Yore, who recently became the latest clinicians to complete VNS Health’s Nurse Residency Program! This comprehensive, two-year program is designed to make the field of home care nursing more accessible to new nurses. Its curriculum includes several weeks of daily classes, after which the nurse residents shadow experienced VNS Health nurse preceptors in the field, gaining invaluable hands-on experience, skills, and confidence. To learn more about the Nurse Residency Program, click here.
CEO Dan Savitt Advocates Against Medicare Budget Cuts
While VNS Health referrals to its programs continue to rise, the capacity to take those referrals continues to decrease due to Medicare budget cuts. Medicare cuts to home health care reimbursements are expected to total nearly 10% for 2023 and 2024, with more potential cuts on the horizon. In his continuing role as a leading advocate against these cuts, VNS Health President and CEO Dan Savitt recently gave an in-depth Q&A to Crain’s Health Pulse. In the interview, Dan warned that these reductions are threatening the survival of home health care organizations—and making home care services less accessible to underserved populations.
Click here to read more about the interview in VNS Health Today.
VNS Health Total Is Now Available in the Albany Area
As of July 1, 2023, VNS Health’s integrated Medicare-Medicaid long term care plan, VNS Health Total, is now available to eligible residents of Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady Counties. Until this recent expansion to the Capital Region, the plan was only available in New York City’s five boroughs and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counites.
VNS Health Total is designed for dual-eligible seniors who need ongoing help with activities of daily living. The plan seamlessly combines Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Long Term Care benefits, with a single network of care providers and a one-stop contact center.
New York State Extends Funding for Nassau Nurse-Family Partnership
New York State’s funding for VNS Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program in Nassau County has been extended for another year, through September 30, 2024, with a $90,000 increase in total funding over the preceding year. “The fact that the state extended the Nassau NFP’s contract and increased its funding is a testament to the great work being done by our NFP team for mothers and their children both in Nassau and in the Bronx,” noted Dan Savitt, President and CEO of VNS Health.
Behavioral Health Team Hosts Mental Health Roundtable
On August 10th, the Behavioral Health team brought together influential politicians and policymakers from all levels of state and municipal government for a roundtable discussion that shone a light on the work VNS Health is doing to address the mental health crisis in the Bronx.
The event, which also focused on the need for additional support and funding to better meet the community’s growing need for mental health services, was held at the VNS Health FRIENDS Clinic in the South Bronx, which serves 3,000 children, adults and families annually, and provides a wide range of short- and longer-term behavioral health services to the neighborhood.
Elected officials who joined the roundtable discussion and toured the clinic included State Assemblymembers Yudelka Tapia and Chantel Jackson, and State Senators Nathalia Fernandez and George Alvarez, as well as representatives from the NYC Office of the Mayor, the NYC Public Advocate’s Office, and the Bronx Borough President’s Office. Two Bronx parents whose children found help through VNS Health’s Promise Zone also participated in the roundtable.
Coordinated by the Government Affairs team, the roundtable discussion was led by CEO Dan Savitt, and SVP, Behavioral Health, Jessica Fear.
Dominican Heritage Celebration
On Friday, August 25th, VNS Health and Centro Medico Dominicano, based in Washington Heights, joined forces to host their very first Dominican Heritage Celebration outside the group’s offices on West 185th Street in Manhattan. Attendees enjoyed entertainment that included tunes spun by a DJ from DJ Stylistic, and a clown from Kooky Cosmo Entertainment who delighted participants with balloon animals. An ice cream truck also provided free, all-you-can-eat ice cream. In addition to the food and entertainment, attendees could also look over a wide array of health information, ranging from health insurance options to mental health resources in the community.
Online Portal for Health Plan Members Goes Live
This summer, VNS Health Health Plans launched a new Member Portal that is significantly improving the consumer experience for the organization’s health plan members. Previously, members could only contact our Contact Center for routine needs by telephone between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. With the new Member Portal, members can look up their benefits online, download and print out a temporary ID card, message their health plan 24/7, and more. Members of all five VNS Health Health Plans—EasyCare, EasyCare Plus, Total, Managed Long Term Care (MLTC), and SelectHealth—can use the portal. “The goal is to make it as easy as possible for our plan members to access their health plan information when, where and how they want to,” explains Atul Kumar, Director, Project Management Office, Health Plans.
We Asked a Few of the 2023 Summer Interns: What or Who at VNS Health Inspired You the Most?
This past summer, VNS Health welcomed 40 student interns hailing from colleges around the country, large and small, with majors that included Public Health, Nursing, Psychology, Economics, Business Marketing, and Risk Management. The interns—many of whom are children of VNS Health team members— worked on teams across the organization, from Business Development, IT, and Finance to Intake, Legal, and Behavioral Health.
Some of our summer interns shared their thoughts about their experience here at VNS Health. To see their comments, watch the slideshow here below—and for a complete list of this year’s interns, click here.
VNS Health Highlights MLTC Plan at Senior Action Council Convention
Pictured here are Alex Diaz, Director of Medicare Sales and Veronica Gray, Account Manager Partnership Development, representing VNS Health at the 2023 Annual Convention for the New York Statewide Senior Action Council, which took place in Saratoga Springs, New York in mid-September. “The Council’s mission is to achieve through united action the dignity, well-being and security of all senior citizens of New York State—a mission that we embrace,” says Veronica. “VNS Health has been an active sponsor of the convention for years. We attend every year to educate seniors and government workers attending from every county in the state about our MLTC plan’s presence in New York’s upstate counties. It’s a great opportunity to share our most up-to-date information.”
Kudos to the First Graduates of VNS Health’s Behavioral Health NP Fellowship!
The following five psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs) from the Behavioral Team recently became the first-ever graduates of VNS Health’s new Behavioral Health NP Fellowship program. Congratulations, all!
- Shirina Ally, Shelter Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) Team
- Annette Jarrett-Graham, BH-Intensive Mobile Treatment (IMT) Team
- Yewande Mikoku, Brooklyn IMT Team 1
- Alyshiann Taylor, Queens IMT Team
- Leena Thapa, Manhattan IMT Team
The one-year fellowship program was proposed and championed by Dr. Jovita Crasta, Chief Psychiatrist and Medical Director, Behavioral Health, and Behavioral Health psychiatrist Dr. Caroline Williams, based on a NP psychiatric fellowship developed by public health Columbia University Psychiatry Faculty Dr. Jules Ranz, MD and Dr. Rachel Griffin PMHNP. With the expert guidance and support of Andrea Abramoff, Education Manager and NP, this fellowship was tailored to provide PMHNPs at VNS Health with additional specialized training on various aspects of community mental health, delivery, including the dispensing of psychiatric medications. The Fellowship curriculum consists of four hours per week in the classroom, as well as a weekly case conference and a weekly clinical supervision session with an experienced senior PMHNP. See the photos!
And Kudos to Jim Rolla for Winning the 2023 Founders’ Spirit Award!
Senior Vice President Jim Rolla, who oversees our Personal Care team, just won the prestigious 2023 Founders’ Spirit Award from the New York State Association of Health Care Providers. This award recognizes Jim’s dedication to the home health care industry, including his deep commitment to “supporting and uplifting others.”
