October 16, 2020–“It is difficult to express how grateful we are for the extraordinary service we received from Partners in Care,” wrote the niece of a 101-year-old man in Queens in a recent e-mail to Andria Castellanos, VNSNY’s Executive Vice President and Chief of Provider Services. The story had begun a week earlier, with what the niece called “a family emergency.” Her uncle, recovering from pneumonia and electrolyte imbalance, but coherent and in good spirits, had been released on a Friday night from the hospital to a rehab facility. “By Saturday morning, after a terrible night alone, he was disoriented and refused to eat,” his niece recalled. “We also learned that, due to COVID-19, not only could his wife not come over that day, but he would be unable to have any visitors at all for over a week.” The family realized that, for his mental, emotional—and, ultimately, physical—health, he needed to