VNSNY Heroes of 2020: Our Medical Supply Room Staff—Working to Ensure Our Clinicians Have What They Need

Among our many important front lines of care in the fight against COVID-19 are VNSNY’s Medical Supply rooms, where our dedicated clerks and supervisors come to work every day to equip our clinicians with the resources they need to safely deliver care to patients.

Manhattan staffers Evelyn Rodriguez, Office Clerk, and Phil Leon, RN

As supplies of hand sanitizer, alcohol wipes, gloves, masks and isolation gowns run low across our region and around the world due to the novel COVID-19 coronavirus, VNSNY has been carefully directing these vital supplies to those clinicians, patients and members who have essential need for them. This poses a special challenge for our Medical Supply office clerks and supervisors, as they work with our clinicians to manage the demands of the pandemic and its profound impact on all our patients’ daily lives.

“We as an organization have been through many things in my 38 years here,” says Emilio Rosado, Manager of Patient Administrative Services, ticking off the names of 9/11, Superstorm Sandy and other citywide crises. “But this one takes the cake!”

As New York City and its suburbs increasingly shut down and many people work remotely if they can, our Medical Supply clerks and supervisors are coming to work from 8:30 to 4:30 each day to make sure VNSNY’s clinicians have what they need. They’ll stay even later whenever a much-prized shipment of essentials does come in, to make sure their shelves are restocked and ready for the next morning’s influx of clinical staff.

“I’ll be honest with you—this is the most fantastic team of colleagues I’ve ever worked with,” says Emilio. “They feel a real sense of responsibility, and they’re troopers, coming into work every day under incredibly stressful conditions.”

Left (behind the door frame), John Rockson, Partners in Care Office Service Assistant, with Home Health Aide Maybelline Suazo.

This fantastic team includes: Evelyn Rodriguez, Office Clerk, Manhattan; Yanne Carrera, Office Supervisor, Manhattan CHAA and Partners In Care; Monsurat Balogun, Office Supervisor; Natalie Reed, Office Clerk, Brooklyn; Rosa Lopez, Office Supervisor, Bronx; Yesenia Castillo, Office Supervisor, Westchester; Rose Mcneal, Office Supervisor, Nassau and Queens; Maria Coutu, Office Clerk, Nassau; Rita Ruvo, Office Clerk, Staten Island; and Janice Green, Office Clerk, Queens. We also salute the supply room and mail staff for Partners in Care: John Rockson, Luis Mena, Selinia Odle, Alpha Jalloh, and Idalia Quinones; as well as the Manhattan Mail Clerks, Victor Ramos and Domingo Faulk, for their dedication, coming into work every day to make sure communications get where they need to go.

Rita Ruvo (on right), Office Clerk in Staten Island, dispensing supplies to Eileen Baez, RN

In the Staten Island Medical Supply room, Kathleen Sarnes, RN, praised Office Clerk Rita Ruvo for going above and beyond for the region’s clinicians in a time of great pressure and need. “She’s a one-woman show, and she’s really been rising to the challenge,” Kathleen says.

Emilio checks in with every member of the team by phone a couple of times a day to see how they’re coping—and also takes care to read between the lines. “Sometimes, someone will say they’re fine, but I’ll hear in their voice that they’re maybe not fine at that moment,” he says. “So I talk to them a little longer, and go to a place where I have privacy if they need to vent. I support them, and tell them we’re all in this together.”

Sal Bastardi, Vice President of Corporate Administrative Support, calls out Emilio and the entire Medical Supply Room team for special recognition in a time of crisis. “They’re taking the brunt of the frustration with this whole situation,” says Sal. “But they’re keeping their cool. They’re real heroes through all this.”

As many of our employees are finding in these unprecedented times, a little humor can lighten the mood. Looking at the largely empty spot where hand gel sanitizers should be, one clinician noted that a small bottle of Purell was selling for a fortune online, and joked to Emilio that maybe they should set up shop on a street corner. Then, after a good chuckle, each returned to the order of the day—taking care of patients, and taking care of one another.

To view more VNSNY Heroes of 2020, please click here.