Find Out What’s Happening… News Briefs From Around VNSNY!
Welcome to the September edition of “News Briefs from Around VNSNY”— featuring quick updates on recent news and virtual events across the organization.
If you have a news brief you’d like to be considered for an upcoming edition, please click here to submit your idea.
Marki Flannery Quoted in Senator Gillibrand Press Release
VNSNY President and CEO Marki Flannery was quoted in New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s August 24th press release on the need to support the home care industry. The press release accompanied a letter sent by Senator Gillibrand and four other U.S. Senators to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, calling for more regulatory and funding relief for home health agencies. “[T]o keep our frontline staff safe and our homebound patients healthy, we must have appropriate policies and financial support,” said Marki’s quote. “That means reimbursing home health providers for vital services delivered through telehealth, sufficient Medicare and Medicaid funding for care in the home, and priority access to personal protective equipment.” To read the letter and full press release, click here.
See the Latest ABCD and Initiative Award Winners!
Over the seven months, from January through July, 2020, 525 VNSNY staff members have been presented with ABCD and Initiative Awards in recognition of the outstanding job they’re doing. Click here to view the complete list of our latest ABCD and Initiative awardees!
VNSNY Celebrates Rehab Awareness Week
National Rehabilitation Awareness Week lasts from September 20th through the 26th, but VNSNYS is extending the celebration—so mark your calendars for a Rehab Awareness Week event on Friday, October 2nd from 11 to 11:45. Emceed by Joe Gallagher, VNSNY’s Director of Clinical Operations Support, this special Zoom gathering honors the incredible work of our rehabilitation therapists and therapy assistants and the vital role they play in their patients’ recovery. Included in the mix will be tributes, remarks from leadership, a short film, and a virtual awards ceremony celebrating this year’s eight VNSNY Rehab Therapist of the Year winners, as well as special prizes—and surprises! “This is a moment to stop and reflect on what we’ve gone through during this challenging year,” says Joe. “It’s been a time of huge challenges, and we wanted to acknowledge and honor the accomplishments and sacrifices of our therapists, many of whom were directly affected by COVID-19.”
Our Family Support Page is ever-evolving, so make sure to keep checking back for invaluable resources (updated biweekly) and helpful news you can use. New content includes the Learning Bridges program, which provides free child-care options this fall for children from 3-K through 8th grade for days when they are not in school buildings. Check back early and often!
Record Enrollment for VNSNY CHOICE MLTC
For September 2020, VNSNY CHOICE’s Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) plan reported a record high 750 new member enrollments, and 278 disenrollments—the lowest monthly disenrollment figure so far this year. The net gain of 472 new members brings overall CHOICE MLTC enrollment to 20,177 members. “What’s even more impressive, only 16 of our September enrollments were AUTO enrollment, meaning they were assigned automatically by the New York Department of Health’s managed care enrollment program,” says Ned Argonza, Director, CHOICE Membership Operations. “The other 734 were all a result of our direct involvement converting referrals to enrollments.” “This outstanding result,” adds Hany Abdelaal, President of CHOICE, “is a testament to the tireless efforts, hard work, teamwork, and collaboration between the Partnership Development Team, Membership & Eligibility Unit, and the Assessment Unit.” Kudos to these teams for their stellar performance!
New VNSNY Home Care Veterans Program
VNSNY is excited to announce the launch of VNSNY Home Care’s Veterans program. Christopher Webster—himself a proud disabled US Army Veteran—will serve as the program’s Outreach Liaison. Made possible thanks to a grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, this important program was created to enrich veterans’ lives by offering support and guidance wherever needed, providing needed equipment to disabled veterans at no charge, and helping veterans and their families navigate the often-confusing application processes to obtain the veterans’ home care benefits to which they are entitled—much as VNSNY’s Hospice Veterans program does for hospice patients. “It is my privilege and my honor to assist my fellow vets in securing those benefits that can help them to reach their highest functional level and stay safe at home in their community,” says Christopher.
Home Health Aides Contribute Their Insights to VNSNY Research Project
VNSNY’s Center for Home Care Policy & Research has been conducting an important survey on how COVID-19 has impacted Partners in Care home health aides. “Being on the front lines of the pandemic, their voices and experiences are particularly important,” notes Margaret McDonald, Associate Director of the Research Center. Over 1,000 HHAs completed the survey, which concluded in mid-September, and the research team will share its results as they become available.
Giving Kudos to Our Amazing PPE Volunteers
On Monday, June 27, as a number of VNSNY staff members returned to work at 220 East 42nd Street to kick off Operation Workplace, other staffers who had spent the past several months at the office working behind the scenes to supply VNSNY’s field staff with personal protective equipment (PPE) were honored for their extraordinary service in a special virtual event. In addition to remarks from leadership across VNSNY, attendees of the emotional Zoom event saw a slideshow of photos capturing the team as they sorted boxes and assembled PPE mailings. The slideshow included a collection of special thank-you cards prepared for healthcare workers by students from Middle School 88 in Park Slope, Brooklyn (including the daughter of hospice nurse Hannah Schwartz). “What you’ve done will stand as one of VNSNY’s greatest achievements ever,” said Marki Flannery in her opening remarks. “On behalf of everyone at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, I want to offer my deepest thanks to every one of you for working so tirelessly and selflessly on this vital effort.” Diana Vargas, who managed the PPE assembly line, choked up while reading a list of those she wanted to thank and remembering lost colleagues and mentors. “I wanted to say thank you to my PPE team, facilities, everyone in all of the seven regions at VNSNY, the Partners in Care supply room team, and upper management,” said Diana. “I’m nothing without them— all of them are a part of me.” Here is the slideshow video from the event:
Congrats to VNSNY’s HCA-NYS Home Town Heroes!
We’re proud to announce that three of our own staff members have been selected as Home Town Heroes by the Home Care Association of New York State (HCA-NYS) for their spectacular work and dedication during the pandemic: nurse Eileen Baez, home health aide Shaunae Phaire, and physical therapist Billy Campbell. Click on their names to read their inspiring stories.
Providing PPE—and Outreach—to Home Health Aides
Starting in late July, a third mass mailing of PPE went out to 7,673 Partners in Care home health aides, says Tony Dawson, VP of Quality and Customer Experience. “So far, we have also made more than 4,800 follow-up calls to these aides to do outreach education regarding appropriate PPE, when to use it, how to protect themselves and their clients, and to follow up on any concerns that they have regarding COVID-19,” Tony notes. ““These live follow up calls give the HHA staff the opportunity to ask questions and to get answers about PPE and other issues in real time.”
CMHS Launches Client Census and Voter Engagement Initiative
Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) is launching a nonpartisan initiative to help its clients complete the census and register to vote, and then go on to cast their vote. “This Census and Voter Engagement Initiative is especially important for the marginalized populations we serve, who traditionally have been underrepresented in their communities,” says CMHS Division Manager Leah Blumberg. “Besides ensuring that our clients are counted and represented in their communities, this effort hopes to empower them by helping them contribute their voices, which are too often overlooked.”
Virtual Memorial Service: VNSNY Pays Tribute to Those Lost During the Pandemic
On Thursday, July 16, VNSNY staff came together for a beautiful virtual memorial service to honor colleagues and loved ones lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Led by Willis Partington, Lead Bereavement Counselor for VNSNY Hospice, the service featured a litany of remembrance and music put together by Willis and Kei Okada, Program Manager for End-of-Life Spiritual Care, as well as various readings by staff members from every part of the organization that suffered losses due to COVID-19: Spiritual Care Counselor Fernando Otero for VNSNY Hospice, Behavioral Health Nurse Laura Lau and Physical Therapist Carmelita Magsino-Avilla for VNSNY Home Care, and James Rolla, Senior Vice President for Partners in Care. The service opened with remarks by VNSNY’s CEO Marki Flannery, and concluded with a poignant slide show of photos and names of those we lost, with final remarks by Willis. To watch the memorial service, click here below.
Chinatown Mask and Tote Giveaway
On Thursday, August 27, VNSNY’s Chinatown Community Center held an exciting free giveaway of face masks and VNSNY CHOICE’s recycled tote bags. In less than an hour, items were distributed to 950 community residents—most of them elderly. Thanks go out to Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer and Councilmember Margaret S. Chin for their partnership; the NYC Mayor’s Office, which donated 9,500 masks; the Tai Look Merchants Association, which donated 1,000 bottles of water; and to attendees Gigi Li and Ian Chan from Councilwoman Margaret Chin’s office. Most importantly, a huge shout-out to our amazing staff volunteers who assembled and/or distributed the masks and totes: Ashley Carrillo, Carrie Ng, Christine Chan, Christy Chan, Christy Harvey, Diana Vargas, Michael Leysath, Orlando Tsang, Teresa Lin and Xiomara Guzman
VNSNY Hospice to Alpha-Test New Patient Assessment Tool
VNSNY Hospice has been selected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to test a new patient assessment tool, HOPE (Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation). This new tool, developed by the research and consulting firm Abt Associates under contract with CMS, collects data throughout the patient’s hospice stay, evaluating areas such as pain, shortness of breath, and caregiver wellbeing—all with an emphasis on the importance of patient preferences, reducing provider burden, and changes in patient data should changes in condition occur. VNSNY hospice staff have already begun their training on protocols for the alpha-test. The alpha-test will continue through January, 2021. Click here to read more about the HOPE assessment tool.
David Rosales, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy officer, was a panelist on Turning the Tide: Post-Acute and Long-Term and the COVID-19 Response, a four-day summit in June hosted by Global Health Care … Bonnie Lauder was acknowledged as a technical expert in a report on the development of the new CMS Hospice Outcome Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool … and on August 5th, VNSNY’s leadership presented on COVID-19 Lessons Learned and Best Practices at the NAHC Home Care & Hospice COVID-19 Town Hall. Topics covered included the creation of VNSNY’s Clinical Expertise Response Team (CERT) to advise staff on PPE usage and COVID-19 protocols, as well as the VNSNY Data Science Team’s development of VisitContactTrace, a cutting-edge COVID-19 contact-tracing tool.
