Hospice Care
Improving Hospice Quality of Care by Supporting and Empowering Families
April 30, 2024–Here is the latest in the series, “Objectives in Action.” Each month, we’ll feature a team from across the organization that’s working to make one of our 4 Top Company Objectives a reality. Next up, our Hospice Care team. The VNS Health Hospice Care team has a challenging pair of Objectives: To lead the New York City hospice market in quality and improve the financial sustainability of our Hospice program. By making this happen, the team will also be helping VNS Health achieve our Top Company Objective of bringing our operating margins and cost structure in line with the rest of the industry. Here’s the story behind the many exciting patient-centered initiatives the Hospice team has launched to achieve their Objectives and support and empower families, all with an eye towards improving quality of care. The situation: The goal of hospice care is to have a patient remain comfortable and
Over 300 People Volunteer to Help Us Fulfill Our Mission. We Spoke to Four of Them.
April 22, 2024–It’s National Volunteer Week—a perfect time to celebrate our dedicated volunteers! Volunteers help teams in all parts of our organization, including Hospice Care, Gender Affirmation, Finance, Business Development, and Home Care. They visit Hospice patients at home, provide comfort and companionship to Home Care patients, assist with administrative functions, even help write educational materials. In 2023, a total of 323 individuals from Home Care and Hospice volunteered 20,243 hours of their time to VNS Health. In dollars, this comes out to about $650,000 in estimated savings to the organization. More importantly, what volunteers provide to our patients, members, and clients – as well as to our organization – is invaluable. No doubt about it, volunteers play a vital role at VNS Health. We recently interviewed four of them to learn more about their experiences as VNS Health volunteers. Here are their stories. “I feel I’m doing something important, and it
Latest Hospice Care News
Breaking Down Latinx Language Barriers: Spotlight On Our Hospice Team in the South Bronx
June 30, 2022–In this latest Neighborhood Spotlight video, host Amery Moultry sits down with two VNS Health Hospice Care team members—nurse Clarissa Santos and Spiritual Care Counselor Fernando Otero—to talk about barriers faced by Hispanic, Latinx and African American residents at the end of life. Click below to watch.
For Military Appreciation Month, BronxNet Interviews VNSNY Veteran Program Liaison Sung Yoon
May 12, 2022–
National Nurses Month Special: Saluting Years of Dedicated Service
May 11, 2022–This year, in celebration of National Nurses Month, VNSNY honors—and thanks— all of the nurses whose hard work and dedication make such a vital and colossal contribution, and difference, to the lives of our patients, clients and members across the organization. As a special highlight, Frontline spoke to the longest-serving nurses in each part of the organization. Click on their names to go directly to their stories or just scroll here to read them all! Myrna Agosto Susan Banner Myra Cohen Eloise Goldberg Lisa Miller Elisabeth Regis Karen Terry Betty Velez Nancy Washburn Deborah Wilson Myrna Agosto, Adult Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Queens/Brooklyn Mobile Crisis Unit, Behavioral Health — 33 years at VNSNY “I see the possibilities.” As a psychiatric nurse practitioner in the Queens/Brooklyn Mobile Crisis Unit, Myrna Agosto spends her days working with vulnerable patients at very difficult times in their lives. “Typically, we’ll get a referral
May 2022 Patient Letters
April 28, 2022–Our VNSNY colleagues continue to prove how resilient, dedicated and just plain amazing the entire VNSNY organization is! The following are excerpts from a few of the many recent letters, phone calls, and emails we’ve received from grateful patients and clients as well as family members that reflect an outstanding consumer experience. Bronx Thank You for the Wonderful Care! “I am writing to thank you for the wonderful care I received from your nurse, Sultana Alibasic,” wrote one Bronx home care patient. “My primary care physician connected me to VNSNY to care for a huge open wound that did not heal properly from abdominal surgery. Sultana treated me almost daily for over a month and would not discharge me until the wound was 100% healed.” The patient described Sultana as kind, caring and professional. “I am very grateful to Sultana and always looked forward to her visits. She wasn’t just
VNSNY Celebrates National Volunteer Week
April 18, 2022–Sending heartfelt thanks to our generous volunteers and volunteer interns! In 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr. told an audience in Montgomery, Alabama: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” This inspirational call to action speaks to the spirit of National Volunteer Week (April 17-23), as we recognize the millions of volunteers around the nation who are answering Dr. King’s question through their generosity and actions. This week, VNSNY celebrates the 351 volunteers who supported our mission by donating their services to programs throughout the organization in 2021, providing a total of 21,570 service hours—valued at $615,608—over the past year. Our volunteers also brought in $95,229 to VNSNY through their fund-raising efforts in 2021, donated PPE worth $263,718 to the organization, and gave the equivalent of $40,280 in other gift-in-kind donations. “Volunteers are crucial to VNSNY. Last year in particular, they showed incredible diligence, generosity,
Medium Features Senior Vice President Rosemary Baughn on the Benefits Palliative Care
April 5, 2022–
NY Beacon Features VNSNY’s HOPE and Connect2Well Programs at Harlem Community Event
March 30, 2022–
Neighborhood Spotlight Takes a Trip to The Rockaways!
March 29, 2022–Frontline VNSNY is excited to bring you the sixth episode of “Neighborhood Spotlight” — VNSNY’s inside look at the neighborhoods we serve and the home care heroes who provide compassion and care in them! In the latest installment, Amery Moultry heads to The Rockaways—a culturally distinct, seaside community in Queens—to talk with hospice nurse Antoinette Williams about the year-round care she provides in the neighborhood. You’ll also hear from psychiatric social worker Linda Techell as they discuss the unique, long-term effects of COVID-19 on hospice patients living in the community. To learn more about The Rockaways and to hear what Antoinette and Linda had to say, check out the latest episode below!
Harlem Event Brings Together VNSNY Leadership and Local Faith and Community Leaders
March 9, 2022–On February 18, VNSNY’s HOPE (Hospice Outreach Patient and Provider Education) and Connect2Well programs hosted an event with faith and community leaders from across the city as well as several elected officials at the historic Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. The event, titled HOPE HEALS: FAITH EMPOWERS, was designed to educate faith leaders about the HOPE and Connect2Well programs and their mission to address the underutilization of hospice, home care and other healthcare services among chronically ill and at-risk Black and Latinx adults. HOPE’s faith-based lead consultants, Reverend Jacques DeGraff and Pastor Corey Kennard, served as co-chairs and helped plan the event, which attracted more than 45 stakeholders from New York City’s five boroughs. By working with key community-based organizations and faith leaders, the HOPE and the Connect2Well programs aim to bridge the information gap and increase access to healthcare resources within the Harlem and the Bronx communities.