Here’s What’s Happening … News Briefs from Around VNSNY!
Welcome to the latest “News Briefs from Around VNSNY”—a Frontline feature that provides brief updates on recent news and events across the organization. If you have a news brief you’d like to be considered for an upcoming edition, please click here.
Flu Vaccine Program for 2019-2020 Officially Starts this Week!
With the 2019-2020 flu season just around the corner, VNSNY’s flu vaccine program for staff is officially underway as of this week. The first to get a flu shot? VNSNY President and CEO Marki Flannery. (See photo at left!) Click here for a schedule of when free flu shots are being offered at VNSNY’s various regional offices. Information on other ways you can access a free flu shot will be heading your way shortly. “I encourage all employees to get their flu shot as soon as possible,” says Marki. “By doing so, you’ll be protecting our patients and members, as well as yourself and your family.”
385 VNSNY Employees Received ABCD Awards this Summer! See Who!
Over the past four months, from June through September, 385 VNSNY staff members have been presented with an ABCD Award in recognition of the outstanding job they’re doing. To view the complete list of these recent ABCD awardees, click here!
Going, Going, Gone! VNSNY Softball Team Captures NYC Division Championship!
This past summer, VNSNY’s softball team was crowned champions of the NYC Metrosport League’s New York City Division. After finishing in fifth place during the regular season, the team swept three consecutive playoff games in mid-August to claim the title. Team coach Willie Sanchez pitched the first two playoff games and the team’s regular pitcher, Neil Pessin, took the mound for the final 15-2 win. “The trophy is arriving in January,” says Willie, “so we hope to find a space to display it!” To make things even better, VNSNY Team 2 also won their division, coming from behind with a four-run last at-bat to win their final playoff game 10-9 in extra innings.
It’s the Second Annual Henry Street Block Party!
On Sunday, September 15th, VNSNY and the Henry Street Settlement co-hosted their second annual Community Day Block Party. Nearly 100 VNSNY staff members joined local residents in the beautiful late-summer weather to enjoy free food supplied by local vendors as well as games, music from a DJ, and a chance to win raffle prizes. VNSNY staffers also manned tables offering information on VNSNY’s services and health plans. “In addition to being a lot of fun, the event was a great opportunity for us to connect with the community and spread the word about our outstanding products,” reports Hany Abdelaal, President of VNSNY CHOICE.
CHOICE Marketing Update: Creating Buzz with the Brooklyn Blitz, Plus Two New CHOICE Vans!
From August 19 through September 13, VNSNY CHOICE unfurled the Brooklyn Blitz—an innovative marketing campaign designed to create buzz around CHOICE SelectHealth, a Medicaid special needs plan. During those four weeks, key blocks around care providers who serve high concentrations of people living with HIV were saturated with a variety of marketing approaches. Residents of these areas—which included parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick, Crown Heights, East New York, and Flatbush—saw a mix of stationary display ads, a mobile SelectHealth ad with the smiling face of a SelectHealth member, a SelectHealth coffee cart offering free coffee and pastries, and brochures handed from the newly launched SelectHealth van, known as a community outreach vehicle (COV). SelectHeatlh Community Outreach staff also set up information tables in the target areas, where they spoke people who were interested in learning about the SelectHealth plan. “Our field staff had over 400 conversations with community residents during the campaign,” reports Tania Sochurek, who managed the Brooklyn Blitz for CHOICE Marketing. “The Blitz let us test a strategy that integrates a mix of advertising tactics with a hands-on, community-based presence intended to spark interest in CHOICE plans,” says CHOICE President Dr. Hany Abdelaal. Even more recently, CHOICE rolled out a second COV that will be used to highlight its long-term care (LTC) plans, CHOICE Total and CHOICE MLTC. Featuring larger-than-life photos of LTC members and CHOICE staff plus the slogan “Living Well at Home” in English and Spanish on its sides, the van also sports the CHOICE URL and phone number. “Like the SelectHealth vehicle, our LTC van will generate visibility in the market and support community outreach efforts for our long-term care plans,” notes Hany.
CHOICE Membership Unit Holds Its First-Ever Town Hall!
With VNSNY CHOICE enrollments at record levels—including 700 new enrollments in the CHOICE MLTC plan for the month of September—CHOICE Membership Operations held its first-ever departmental Town Hall on September 4th. “This was a chance to celebrate our department’s achievements and to promote excellence, morale and team building,” notes Ned Argonza, Director, CHOICE Membership Operations. With nearly all 60 of the department’s employees in attendance, the Town Hall included informational presentations by five guest speakers from CHOICE Provider Operations as well as remarks from CHOICE senior leaders Alexander Torres, VP, Partnerships and Membership Operations, Lori Ferguson, SVP, LTC Integrated Plans, and Hany Abdelaal, President, VNSNY CHOICE. This was followed by a departmental trivia game and a recognition of the top performers from each area of Membership Operations. “We concluded with refreshments, mingling and handing out gift bags to every staff member as a small token of our appreciation for their efforts and hard work,” adds Ned.
VNSNY Hospice and CHOICE Spotlight End-of-Life Issues in the Asian-American Community
VNSNY Hospice participated in three recent events spotlighting issues around end-of-life care for Asian-Americans. The first, a forum held on August 1st at VNSNY’s East 70th Street office, examined barriers to end-of-life care in New York’s Chinese-American community and strategies for overcoming them. Close to 100 people, including VNSNY staff members and several dozen external partners, attended the forum, which was co-sponsored by VNSNY Hospice and the Chinese America Coalition for Compassionate Care (CACCC). Dr. Ritchell Dignam, Medical Director for VNSNY Hospice and Chief Medical Officer for VNSNY Provider Services, served as an expert panelist along with Sandy Stokes, Founder of the CACCC; Dr. Wan Ling Lam, Associate Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine; and Weiyi Pan, MS, FNP-BC, a Nurse Practitioner with VNSNY Hospice and Living at Home Medical. Later that day, VNSNY and the CACCC also hosted a Heart to Heart Café for members of the VNSNY Chinatown Community Center and the Chinatown NNORC. Dr. Dignam also made a joint presentation on September 4th with Teresa Lin, Director of VNSNY CHOICE Medicaid Advantage Plus (MAP) Partnership Development, at the Eastern Chinese American Physicians IPA/Chinese Community Accountable Care Organization’s Provider Educational Dinner. The event’s theme was, “Patients with Complex Medical and Social Needs: How VNSNY CHOICE and VNSNY Hospice Can Help.”
Nassau Nurse-Family Partnership Collects Donations for Local Food Pantry
This past August, a team from VNSNY’s Nassau Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) collected almost 80 pounds of non-perishable food items for the food pantry run by the Grace Lutheran Church in Uniondale. The effort was sparked by NFP nurse Annette Maldonado, who has been with VNSNY’s NFP program for 13 years. “Annette often refers her clients to the food pantry—and knowing its value as a resource, she encouraged the rest of our team to participate in gathering donations,” says Carolyn Sime, Nurse Manager of the Nassau NFP. “As VNSNY public health nurses, we’re always glad to give back to our community to continue to support our clients’ needs!”
Happy Graduation! Nassau NFP Graduates 9 First-Time Moms
On July 25, VSNSY’s Nassau Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) held its fourth annual graduation ceremony, honoring 9 first-time mothers for completing the NFP program. The graduates have all worked one-on-one with an NFP nurse, starting in pregnancy and continuing through their child’s first birthday, to support the health of their baby and themselves, hone their parenting skills, and complete their education and start on a career path. “It was beautiful to see my clients graduate, many who faced challenges throughout their time with me in the program,” says NFP Nurse Home Visitor Annette Maldonado. “It was emotional to see my client’s child at graduation—now a 2-year-old boy, growing and thriving, and to see what an amazing advocate my client has become for her child!”
5K Road Race Raises Funds in Honor of VNSNY Hospice Patient
On September 28th, the inaugural Hello Beautiful 5K Race took place in Manhattan’s West Greenwich Village neighborhood. The race, a fundraiser for VNSNY’s Hospice and LGBT programs, was sponsored by the Hello Beautiful Foundation, established by New Yorker Rob Ross to honor his partner, Greg Pepe, who passed away in VNSNY Hospice’s care exactly two years ago. “Rob has decided to make this an annual event and is matching the race’s proceeds up to $10,000,” says Catherine Callaway, VNSNY’s Vice President of Marketing and Development. VNSNY staffers Stefanie Steel, Arthur Fitting, Shannon Whittington, Ted Traver and Andrea Hill and VNSNY Board Member Peter Gleason cheered on the runners at this year’s race, which drew 135 registrants and, with the match, has raised over $20,000. “Maybe next year we’ll have a VNSNY team in the race!” adds Andrea.
FRIENDS Supervisor Alice Greenfield Featured on Bronx News 12
VNSNY social worker Alice Greenfield, Clinical Supervisor of VNSNY’s FRIENDS Clinic, was featured in a recent Bronx News 12 story about the links between childhood trauma and education. Alice was interviewed as an expert participant at a mid-summer Bronx event highlighting how childhood trauma such as physical or sexual abuse, food insecurity or exposure to community violence can impede children’s ability to function in school. To see the video segment, click here. (Alice is the first person interviewed by the News 12 reporter.)
VNSNY Gender Affirmation Program Head Shannon Whittington Gives Web Conference on LGBT Competency
VNSNY nurse Shannon Whittington, Director of VNSNY Home Care’s post-surgical Gender Affirmation Program (GAP), was the expert source on a recent nationwide web conference for health system managers. The conference focused on how VNSNY has provided LGBT cultural competency training to its staff, and how listeners can make their own workplace and health system more inclusive for LGBT patients and employees.
CHOICE Staff Member Shiara D’Costa Attends International AIDS Society Conference
In late July, Shiara D’Costa, a Project Coordinator for CHOICE SelectHealth (VNSNY’s special needs plan for HIV-positive Medicaid recipients), attended the International AIDS Society Conference (IASC) in Mexico City. The IASC is a four-day event that brings together scientists and HIV professionals from around the world to discuss advances in HIV research, medical practice and policy. This year’s event had more than 5,000 participants from over 140 countries.
