Personal Care
Latest Personal Care News
Meet All Our 2026 VNS Health Award Winners!
November 2, 2026–Read Their Stories and See the Full List of Nominees! On Monday, October 26, team members from across the organization were recognized and celebrated as the very best of the best in exemplifying VNS Health’s mission and Core Values of Empathy, Integrity and Agility! The event included those who had received awards earlier in the year, as well as presentations to the newly announced winners of the Phyllis Mills Living Legend Award, the ESPRIT Awards, and the VNS Health Outstanding Team Performance Award. To see all the team members who were nominated for these awards, click here. Congratulations to all of this year’s award winners! Click on their names here below to read more about them and their award. Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Float team 2026 Outstanding Team Performance Award Maricel Bumanlag 2026 Physical Therapist of the Year Charlene Cano 2026 Speech-Language Pathologist of the Year Stephania Casimir 2026 ESPRIT
See the Photos, a Video, and a Recording of the 2026 VNS Health Annual Awards Ceremony!
October 30, 2026–On Monday, October 26, team members from across the organization gathered for a very special evening to celebrate more than 50 team members who were honored at our 2026 VNS Health Annual Awards Ceremony. Over 400 people also watched the celebration simultaneously through a live-stream link. Now you can see the celebration photos, watch a video about the event, and watch a recording of the full celebration. Congratulations to all the team members who were honored! Here is a slideshow of photos: Here is a video highlighting the event with Johvorne Samuels reporting! Here is a recording of the awards ceremony: To see our 2026 VNS Health Award winners and read their stories, click here! To see a complete list of all the 2026 award nominees, click here!
See Why Team Members Are Walking In Support of People with Dementia. Watch This Short, Moving Video!
October 26, 2026–Over 320 people have registered to Walk as One VNS Health for the Alzheimer’s Walk on November 14 in support of the people they love, as well as the approximately 30-40% of VNS Health patients, members and clients who are affected by cognitive impairment and memory loss. Watch this short, moving video with their stories. If you are walking and want to share why you are walking too, click here and tell us! We’ll compile all the written responses and publish on Frontline the week of November 9. JOIN US! If you haven’t already registered to walk, click here to join the One VNS Health team on November 14 at 10:00 a.m. in Central Park.
HHCN Spotlights Tom Coccoza’s New Role as SVP, Personal Care
October 21, 2026–
One VNS Health in Action: Check Out Our Latest Patient Letters and Commendations!
October 19, 2026–Want to feel incredibly inspired and proud of how, together, we help people in their health care journeys? Read our latest patient letters and health plan member commendations! To do that, simply scroll down or click on any of the areas below: Bronx “She really cared about me.” “I wish to thank and praise your excellent Nurse Desiree Gibson,” a Bronx patient wrote. “I find her to be a loving, caring, knowledgeable nurse and she’s done a wonderful job managing my case. I really look forward to her visits — they cheer me up. I also want to express my gratitude for Home Health Aide Ana Nunez. She was incredibly helpful and has a lovely disposition. She really cared about me.” “I’m very happy to have her!” Another Bronx patient expressed how pleased she was with Home Health Aide Kahwana Polite, noting, “She does a good job with me. I am very
Announcing Our 2026 VNS Health ESPRIT Award Winners!
October 11, 2026–79 team members from across the organization were nominated for an ESPRIT Award this year, and 10 people from this group were chosen as winners by a committee of previous ESPRIT Award Winners! ESPRIT Awards are given to employees who exemplify our core values of Empathy, Agility and Integrity, going above and beyond in support of our patients, members and clients. To see a list of all the nominees, including those who were finalists, click here. Congratulations to this year’s ESPRIT Award Winners! To read more about each winner and their award, click on the links below. Stephania Casimir, Supervisor, Medicare Advantage Care Management, Health Plans To read more about Stephania and her award, click here. Jackie Davis, Operations Manager, Hospice Care To read more about Jackie and her award, click here. Felicia Dorsey, Care Manager, Health Home, Behavioral Health To read more about Felicia and her award, click here.
Meet Our 2026 ESPRIT Award Winner: Miniely Valdez
October 11, 2026–As a Unit Manager in Personal Care, Miniely Valdez leads a team that works with clients served by the New York City Department of the Aging, connecting them with home health aide services. Miniely excels at listening, as a recent phone call from one of her clients demonstrates. The client called with concerns about his schedule and his permanent home health aide, so Miniely looked into his authorization and schedule to see how she could help. “At the end of our conversation, he thanked me simply for listening to him instead of rushing him off the phone,” she recalls. “Sometimes, people need to know that they’ve been heard and that someone genuinely cares about what they’re going through.” Another client, who was transitioning to hospice care, was thinking about ending her home health services. She worried that her growing needs and frequent appointments made her too difficult to care for,
The 2026 Personal Care Honor Awards: Meet the Winners, See the Photos and a Recording of the Ceremony!
October 4, 2026–Recently, Frontline shared a special HHA video that had its premiere at the Personal Care Honors Awards ceremony that was held on Tuesday evening, September 29, in midtown Manhattan. Now, here are photos of the event itself, and scroll down for a complete list of all the Personal Care team members who received Honor Awards. Congratulations to the winners! Here is a video recording of the 2026 Personal Care Honor Awards Ceremony! For those team members who couldn’t make it or if you’d like to see it again, click here below to watch the awards ceremony. The 2026 Personal Care Honor Award Winners are here! Leela Singh, HHA, was presented with the Richard Flender Grace Award for showing grace under pressure. Leela has been with VNS Health since 2012. For nearly 14 years, she’s been caring for Hospice patients in Queens. It takes a very special person to do this
Home Health Care News Spotlights VNS Health’s Innovative Approach to Care, including Vitalic Partnership and Dementia Care at Home Program,
October 2, 2026–