Personal Care
“What Is One Thing You Love About Working for VNS Health?”
April 5, 2024–Over 330 Home Health Aide team members responded to our February raffle question—“What is one thing you love about working for VNS Health?” And what great responses we received! The big picture: Of those who participated in February’s raffle question… Three $200 Prizes: We took the names of all the HHA team members who participated in February’s raffle question, put them all together, and drew three names at random. The three winning team members who each received $200 were Angela Gaffney, Enileika Chirinos Calderon, and John Miranda Byrd. Check out these great responses we received to our February raffle question: “What is one thing you love about working for VNS Health?” Lara Govin: “I love the flexibility of being able to pick and choose my cases from the application whenever I want to and wherever I want to go. I can also decide if I want to work extra shifts
Latest Personal Care News
Meet Our Latest ACE Leadership Program Grads!
March 9, 2021–The 10th cohort of VNSNY’s Achieving a Culture of Excellence (ACE) Leadership Program was slated to begin in March of last year—just as New York, and the majority of the world, was shutting down due to the pandemic. But the program and its participants were quick to adapt: After delaying for a few months to focus on the needs of VNSNY’s patients and staff, ACE kicked off in July 2020, entirely remote and ready to tackle the new world of COVID-19. “This year’s ACE participants came together in the midst of unprecedented challenges and stress, both in their personal and professional lives,” says ACE program director and VNSNY Organizational Development Specialist Amanda Weiner. “I believe that 2020 has changed every one of us, and I was so proud to see how the participants supported one another, stretched and pushed themselves, and showed up for VNSNY.” The group’s ACE commencement ceremony
Happy Birthday, Lillian Wald! A Special Feature on How VNS Health’s Founder Helped Lead the Women’s Suffrage Movement
March 9, 2021–Today, as part of our Women’s History Month celebration, Frontline is honored to highlight VNS Health’s founder, Lillian Wald. Born on this day, March 10th, in 1867, Lillian became one of the most influential individuals of her time. Most people are familiar with her history as a ground-breaking social worker, public health nurse and settlement leader. In addition to her tireless efforts to provide accessible, in-home nursing care to the residents of New York City, however, Lillian was also a significant figure in the women’s suffrage movement as well as causes that improved the lives of children, immigrants and laborers. As the author of multiple articles championing the rights of women, Lillian was among America’s most vocal leaders in the fight to allow women to vote. In her essay “Arguments for Woman Suffrage,” she wrote, “I believe that men and women possess inherent rights to the franchise, and that discrimination on account of
March 2021 Patient Letters
March 4, 2021–The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to prove the resilience and dedication of our entire VNSNY staff. The following are excerpts from a few of the many recent letters, phone calls, and emails that we’ve received from grateful patients and family members that reflect an outstanding consumer experience. “My Mother was Prepared Spiritually and Emotionally” Bronx— “I am writing to let you know how much I appreciated the support given to me by nurse Sherma Wheeler and social workers Leona Abrams and Fernando Otero,” wrote the daughter of a VNSNY Hospice patient who recently passed away at the age of 103. “Each one gave advice and moral support to help me understand and process what my dying mother was going through, and what I could do to help her pass away with dignity and peace. They allowed me to be a part of my mother’s care in a loving and
Partners in Care HHA Michelle Brown Explains Why You Should Get the COVID Vaccine Now!
February 26, 2021–In this “Ask VNSNY” video, Partners in Care HHA Michelle Brown encourages you to get the COVID vaccine if you haven’t already. As Michelle says, “If we all do it, we can put an end to this pandemic sooner rather than later.” To hear Michelle’s story, click on the video below. On March 20th, VNSNY will stop administering first doses of the vaccine — so time is running out to get a vaccine appointment! To schedule your appointment, you can call the HHA vaccine scheduling hotline at 212-609-4126. To watch more videos about getting the vaccine, please click here.
Don’t Miss This Inspiring Video Celebrating Partners in Care Home Health Aide Heroes!
December 16, 2020–On Monday evening, December 14th, VNSNY Partners in Care held its annual Service Awards program. This virtual event celebrated nearly 800 Partners in Care staff members and included an inspiring video spotlighting on 14 Partners in Care home health aide heroes and their passion for the important work they do. To watch this video, please click below.
Meichelle Huff, Home Health Aide, Partners in Care
November 7, 2020–“This is such a rewarding job.” Becoming a home health aide had always been a goal of Meichelle’s. While looking for work some eight years ago, she took an HHA training course and was immediately assigned several hours of work on cases scattered around New York City. When her supervisor came back to her and asked whether she’d consider a live-in position three days a week in Manhattan, she quickly said yes. It was a life-changing decision. “My client is an elderly, bedbound lady with Alzheimer’s who never spoke English and is nonverbal—but we have our own way of communicating,” says Meichelle. “I have a song that I’ll sing to her so that she knows that it’s me. As soon as she hears it, she starts reaching her hands out to me.” Meichelle admits that she was a little nervous to start with. “I had never bathed or changed anybody
Partners in Care Home Health Aide Supervisors: Supporting HHAs Through the Pandemic
August 4, 2020–As COVID-19 took over our lives last spring, the world stood up and took notice of a new set of heroes—the doctors, nurses, and other health professionals who bravely battled the virus on the front lines. Fewer people, however, are aware of the tremendous efforts of another set of heroes: the nation’s dedicated home health aides (HHAs), and the equally dedicated HHA supervisors who support them. At Partners in Care, home to 7,000 home health aides, the COVID-19 pandemic meant these supervisors had to help their HHAs deal with daily concerns around going into the community and risking exposure to the coronavirus, in addition to their normal tasks of managing their HHAs’ work status and schedule. “When the pandemic hit, we lost a lot of aides. Many were too scared to work, and some of them got sick,” says Shama Barrett, Manager, Certified Bronx/Queens Choice Unit, who 16 Partners in
Saluting Patricia Watson, Partners in Care’s Longest-Serving Home Health Aide
December 14, 2017–Every day, over 8,000 Partners in Care home health aides (HHAs) provide care to thousands of New Yorkers, many of whom are VNSNY Home Care patients and CHOICE MLTC members. Out of this large and dedicated group of aides, five have been with Partners in Care since the affiliate was acquired by VNSNY in 1983—including two HHAs who have been working with Partners in Care since the 1970s. Over the next several weeks, Frontline VNSNY will be posting profiles of each of these HHAs. Today, we begin this series by saluting the longest-serving of these home health aides: Patricia Watson, who joined Partners in Care in 1976, a year when Gerard Ford was president, inflation was high, and the country celebrated its bicentennial. “I Love My Work So Much!” With 41 years of experience as a Partners in Care home health aide, Patricia Watson holds the distinction of having served