Meet Our 2025 ESPRIT Award Winner: Sara Shah

The call came in from a wound care patient who was frustrated about their medical condition. By the time the call was escalated to Sara Shah, a Manager with VNS Health’s Contact Center Shared Services (CCSS), the patient was more upset than ever.

Sara did what she’s so good at: she listened and understood. The call was from a plan member who had been active in their community but was now homebound and dependent on others for basic needs like dressing a wound. Their frustration was actually an expression of grief—grief over lost independence.

“I assured them that this is the time in their life when they need to be open to help,” Sara recalls, “and that the community you’ve been working so hard to support is now coming together to do the same for you.”

For Sara, now 12-plus years into her VNS Health career, understanding people’s health care experiences isn’t abstract. Her father received home-based care twice—once following a serious health episode, and again when he entered hospice care. She also has a sister who works for VNS Health as well, first as a nurse and now managing members’ care for VNS Health’s SelectHealth Medicaid Specials Needs plan.

“I have a deep appreciation for VNS Health,” Sara says. “I want to be part of our mission for as long as I can.”

After her parents emigrated from Afghanistan to the U.S. in the 1980s as newlyweds, Sara watched them navigate an unfamiliar culture and health care system. “My parents taught me to lead with compassion and to be selfless always,” she reflects. “VNS Health’s vision and Core Values align with the values instilled in me by my parents. In some ways, it’s kismet that this became my purpose.”

That alignment shows in her work. Sara helped developed VNS Health’s empathy training for the CCSS team, and personally phones consumers who leave dissatisfied survey responses so she can help resolve their issues in real time.

With her deep knowledge of the organization that reaches across virtually every line of business, colleagues call Sara “the poster figure for One VNS Health.” “When asked to take on new challenges, she says ‘yes’ without hesitation,” a colleague notes. On winning her ESPRIT Award, Sara says she is especially thankful to Nancy Vitale, Vice President of Contact Operations, who saw and encouraged her leadership potential. “She pushes me every day to be better,” Sara says. “To have leadership that supports you wholeheartedly is rewarding in itself.”