Meet Indira Ortiz — Our 2026 Home Health Aide of the Year!

Congratulations to Indira Ortiz, winner of VNS Health’s 2026 James R. Withrow Home Health Aide of the Year Award!

Indira received the award for her exceptional dedication and commitment to VNS Health, her unwavering advocacy for her clients, and the outstanding care she provides as a health coach to older adults at the Stanley Isaacs Senior Center, a naturally occurring retirement community (NORC), as well as through special programs.

Whether Indira is catching a health problem early, working with colleagues to find a solution, or helping a client get back on the path to health, she brings the same determination and aim to her work: Make sure people get the help they need.

It’s an approach Indira learned 15 years ago, while training to become a VNS Health home health aide. An instructor told her something she has never forgotten: With your training and skills, it’s up to you to advocate for your clients.

From her earliest days as an HHA providing one-on-one care in clients’ homes, Indira took that lesson to heart. She made a point of asking the right questions, knowing when to listen, and observing carefully so she could recognize when something might be wrong—and then act on it.

“If I see something going on with a client, I do whatever I need to do to help, call whoever I need to call,” Indira says.

Today, she puts that philosophy into practice as a health coach at the Stanley Isaacs Senior Center, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Working alongside VNS Health Nurse Cassidie Sanchez, as well as a social worker, Indira helps older adults manage chronic conditions, medications, and health goals.

She especially values being part of an onsite team. “Having a team right there is so helpful,” she says. “We can resolve issues so much faster.”

That ability to act quickly made a critical difference this past summer, when Indira and her team realized they hadn’t seen one of their clients in several days. That was unusual for a man they knew as outspoken and full of personality.

When the team visited his home, they found him confused and unwell. Although he initially refused to let them inside, Indira and her colleagues recognized that the situation was unsafe and arranged for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease and received treatment. Today, Indira says, he is “back to his usual self.”

Not every intervention is so dramatic, but Indira says smaller moments can be just as important.

“It could be something as small as a client taking too much of a medication,” she notes. Because Indira and her colleagues know their clients well, they can quickly spot changes during routine visits, loop in the client’s doctor, and adjust course before a problem becomes dangerous.

“Those are the moments I treasure the most, catching things and making sure people get the help they need,” she says. “Seeing them flourish—that’s definitely a reward of the job.”

Indira is also sharing what she has learned as a home health aide with other VNS Health HHA team members. As an HHA mentor in the Community Health Workers (CHW) program, Indira meets monthly with four or five HHAs. She generously shares her extensive knowledge, training, and field experience with her mentees, helping them navigate the challenges they encounter. Her mentorship strengthens not only the individuals she supports but also the quality of care our Personal Care team provides to the community.

(The CHW Program is a federally funded apprenticeship program for home health aides offered in partnership with 1199SEIU and LaGuardia Community College.)

At the same time that Indira is helping others grow, she is taking the next step in her own career. Encouraged by the nurses, nurse practitioners, and physicians she has worked alongside over the years, she is now attending nursing school at Nassau Community College. Her goal is to one day work as a nurse at a NORC like the Stanley Isaacs Senior Center.

“VNS Health has been helping me invest in myself,” she says. “Without the opportunity to become a health coach, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in now, working side by side with nurses and deciding this is the path I want.”