Meet The 2018 ESPRIT Award Winners
Miriam Martinez, Associate Director, Partners in Care, CHOICE MLTC
November 27, 2018–A Vital Bridge from Patient Assessment to Home Care This autumn marks 31 years at VNSNY for Miriam Martinez. She worked for Family Care Services (FCS) for 27 years, then moved to Partners in Care when it took on management of FCS in 2014. Beginning this year, she and her staff of eight shifted from clinical management to focus on handling the back-end compliance work that helps keep Partners in Care nurses in the field, assessing the needs and status of CHOICE Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) health plan members and arranging for vital home health aide (HHA) services. They schedule nursing visits, monitor that the nursing visits take place in timely fashion, and review the nurses’ patient assessment documentation as well as the physician authorization forms used by the nurses to request doctors’ approval of HHA services for the patient. In the course of their work, Miriam and her
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Sherryl Reid, Interdisciplinary Care Team Lead, Brooklyn & Staten Island
November 27, 2018–Helping Co-Workers and Patients Succeed When Sherryl Reid learned that she was an ESPRIT award winner, her first reaction was surprise. “I don’t see what I do as extraordinary in any way,” she says. “I just love my job. I’m very committed to and passionate about what I do. I believe in helping everyone, so if someone comes up to me with a question, I’ll take that five minutes to help.” Sherryl, who launched her VNSNY career 23 years ago as a field nurse, says that in her work as an interdisciplinary care team lead (ICTL)—and now as a Brooklyn branch director, following VNSNY’s recent reorganization—she tries to be thoughtful at all times in her interactions with others, and to treat people the way she would want to be treated. “I think people gravitate to me because I’m a nurturer by nature,” she says. “When I meet a person and work
Emilio Rosado, Manager, Patient Administrative Services–Office Support Services
November 27, 2018–Providing Behind-the-Scenes Administrative Support for Three-Plus Decades Although Emilio Rosado has been with VNSNY for more than 36 years, “It feels like I started yesterday,” he says. Today, with five supervisors and staff reporting to him, Emilio runs the mailrooms and package deliveries for VNSNY Home Care, Hospice, Partners in Care and CHOICE. “We handle interoffice, incoming and outgoing mail, UPS and FedEX packages, as well as the distribution of clinical supplies to Manhattan-based staff and clinicians,” he notes. Emilio’s boss, Sal Bastardi, Vice President of Corporate Administrative Services, calls Emilio his “go-to person.” Sal commended him in particular for Emilio’s work transitioning VNSNY’s mail operations from 1250 Broadway to the new 220 East 42nd Street office, calling it “the kind of project you can lose sleep over.” “It required a lot of planning and preparation, with many moving pieces,” says Emilio. “There were a few cases when some mail was
Erica Popp, Education Manager (now Quality Improvement Manager), Occupational Therapy
November 27, 2018–An “Agent of Change” Who Provides Education and Support As the manager of education for VNSNY’s CHHA clinicians, Erica Popp was part of a team that designed and implemented orientation training for new clinician hires and also conducted ongoing education and training for VNSNY’s current OT staff. “I’ve been with VNSNY for eight years, and was in the field as an OT for five years before I transitioned to my current education role,” she says. “I draw on my clinical experience to try and keep things relatable to the day-to-day operations of the field clinicians’ work, which includes respecting their time and their dedication to their patients.” Erica’s role included assisting the OT staff in the recent rollout of VNSNY’s new electronic medical record (EMR) system, HomeCare HomeBase. The new system has a lot of built-in features that will ultimately save a lot of time, but, like all major changes, it’s
Glenda Wright, BSC/Team Assistant, VNSNY Home Care, Bronx Region
November 27, 2018–Experience and Knowledge that Team Members Can Rely On Having worked at VNSNY since 1985,Glenda Wright feels that the many different jobs she’s had along the way have prepared her well for her most recent position as Scheduler for VNSNY Home Care’s Bronx Interdisciplinary Care Team 11. When cases come in each day, Glenda assigns the needed social workers, nurses, physical therapists, or other staff. She also handles authorizations, advance billing and numerous other tasks. “It can get hectic at times,“ says Glenda, “but I find it very satisfying that my Bronx team members know they can always depend on me to keep things running smoothly.” “Glenda is a team player and is highly respected by all staff,” wrote one of her colleagues in nominating her for the ESPRIT award. “She is the go-to person for staff and management regarding patient care and VNSNY policies, and works closely with her peers
Hoi Yee, Systems Analyst/Programmer, IT Solutions
November 27, 2018–Managing IT Systems to Keep HR Operations Functioning Smoothly “While the clinicians are in the field, caring for patients, my team is back at the office helping to take care of the systems that support their work,” says Hoi Yee, Manager, Systems Analyst/Programmer, IT Solutions. Fourteen years ago, Hoi left the world of IT consulting to take a full-time position with VNSNY. Today, he and his team at VNSNY’s 5 Penn Plaza office provide programming support for key HR administrative functions like payroll and benefits. “The most important thing is making sure people get paid correctly and on time,” he observes. Hoi says he was “stunned” to learn he was receiving an ESPRIT award. “I like to stay in the background,” he says. He gives much credit to his two staff members, programmers Robert Lee and Lana Ganzman, for their expertise and their commitment to projects large and small. Hoi adds that
Joanna Ignatiades, Care Coordinator, CHOICE MLTC Care Management
November 27, 2018–Helping to Keep CHOICE Members Safely at Home Growing up in Jackson Heights, Queens, Joanna Ignatiades had a childhood dream of becoming a nurse. Today, as a Nurse Care Coordinator with VNSNY CHOICE’s Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) health plan, she helps CHOICE members remain healthy and independent by providing phone support and care management. This includes everything from making sure members know what benefits are available to them, to securing doctor’s appointments and arranging for services such as Meals on Wheels and enrollment in adult day care centers. Like all of the120-plus Care Coordinators at CHOICE, she is a problem-solver. “One thing I love about it is that I’m able to build long-term relationships with the members I serve,” says Joanna. “Joanna is dedicated to her members and follows up promptly and creatively, developing individualized plans and interventions for them,” says her ESPRIT nomination. “She strivesto ensure the best care
Marcia Dubois, Crisis Care Nurse
November 27, 2018–Helping to Meet Hospice Patients’ Physical and Emotional Needs As a Crisis Care Nurse, Marcia Dubois assists hospice patients in their homes by providing medical and emotional support. In addition to keeping patients comfortable by managing their physical symptoms, Marcia also does what she can to help patients fulfill their end-of-life desires, which sometimes are as basic as stepping outside their apartments one more time. “I understand that they just want to go outside for a while and take one last look at the world,” she says. When one patient who’d lived on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for over six decades wanted to go to the corner of Broadway and West 72nd Street in the early morning, Marcia didn’t hesitate to wheel her there. “She just sat in silence for several minutes, looking up, down and all around… and then when she gave me the signal, I wheeled her back to
MaryGrace Trifilio, Research Analyst, VNSNY Center for Home Care Policy & Research
November 27, 2018–Working to Turn Research into Clinical Practice VNSNY Research Analyst MaryGrace Trifilio always knew she wanted to work in geriatrics. “I grew up in Brooklyn watching my parents struggle to keep my four grandparents safe and healthy,” she says. “Because my mother worked in geriatric care, I always knew about VNSNY, and it was the first place I thought of when looking for a career.” MaryGrace started at the Research Center in 2012, right out of college. Her first position was as a field researcher, interviewing patients in their homes. Today she works in an office-based role, helping to determine the logistics of proposed studies, arranging for data collection, and then analyzing and reporting on that data. While working at VNSNY, she’s also earned a Master’s degree in Cultural & Medical Anthropology. A big challenge in research involves getting evidence-based knowledge into the hands of clinicians to help improve practice
Neiko Roman, Family Advocate, Children’s Mobile Crisis Team
November 27, 2018–Bringing Troubled Children to a Better Place During his two years with VNSNY’s Children’s Mobile Crisis Unit, Family Advocate Neiko Roman has come to understand that every child is an individual, and each case is different. Neiko’s clients are mainly between the ages of 5 to 13, with most referrals coming from schools. Working as a team, Neiko and his colleague, VNSNY Psychiatric Social Worker Andrew Plisner, make on-site assessments to identify the presence of depression, anxiety, and suicidal and homicidal thoughts. Depending on the findings of these assessments, his young clients are then referred for psychiatric evaluation, psychological therapy, treatment by VNSNY or other community programs, or, in some cases, hospitalization. Serving on a mobile crisis unit is demanding work, requiring 24-hour coverage with a two-hour response time to all calls. The hard work “seems to come naturally to him,” notes Neiko’s ESPRIT nomination—adding, “Neiko jumped right into the position…[and] was