Provider Services
May 2022 Patient Letters
April 28, 2022–Our VNSNY colleagues continue to prove how resilient, dedicated and just plain amazing the entire VNSNY organization is! The following are excerpts from a few of the many recent letters, phone calls, and emails we’ve received from grateful patients and clients as well as family members that reflect an outstanding consumer experience. Bronx Thank You for the Wonderful Care! “I am writing to thank you for the wonderful care I received from your nurse, Sultana Alibasic,” wrote one Bronx home care patient. “My primary care physician connected me to VNSNY to care for a huge open wound that did not heal properly from abdominal surgery. Sultana treated me almost daily for over a month and would not discharge me until the wound was 100% healed.” The patient described Sultana as kind, caring and professional. “I am very grateful to Sultana and always looked forward to her visits. She wasn’t just
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An Important Video Message from Jennifer Brullo, Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services
September 30, 2020–Dear Team, It’s been just over a month ago that I moved from my former position as Senior Vice President of Partners in Care to become Senior Vice President of VNSNY Patient Care Services. It’s been an exciting time for me. I’ve been thrilled to meet so many of you — and I can’t wait to meet all of you! In this special video to each of you in the CHHA staff, I’d like to share my thoughts on my new role and my vision for the CHHA’s future — our future. To watch the video, click below.
An Interview with Jim Rolla, New Senior Vice President for Partners in Care
September 21, 2020–Jim Rolla was recently promoted to Senior Vice President for Partners in Care, succeeding Jennifer Brullo, who is now Senior Vice President for VNSNY Home Care. Before taking his current position, Jim served as Partners in Care’s Vice President of Certified Services. Following his promotion, he spoke to Frontline VNSNY about the challenges and opportunities ahead for Partners in Care. In succeeding Jennifer Brullo, you’re stepping into some pretty big shoes. Yes, I am! Jennifer and I connected on a very positive level, and she’s leaving a very strong legacy. She was very open to new ideas at a time when we needed to make enormous changes in the way we operate practically overnight, both to serve our clients and to keep our workforce safe. My goal is to continue that tradition, and to have an open mind to new ideas and new ways of doing things. So much has
VNSNY Nurse Nana Asamoah: Managing Patients’ Medications During the Pandemic—and Beyond
September 13, 2020–Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, medication management was a struggle for many people. Research shows that nearly 3 out 4 Americans don’t take their medications as directed in the best of times, and 1 in 3 never even bother to fill their prescriptions. The complications of COVID-19 have made this bad situation even worse: Many pharmacies and doctor’s offices were closed for a time, and even today many still have reduced hours or are difficult to reach, with limited deliveries. At the same time, people are quarantined at home and unwilling to go out, and family members and other caregivers are staying away because of social distancing. On top of that, many patients have new medication regimens to treat the coronavirus itself. As a nurse with VNSNY Home Care’s Manhattan Branch 6, Nana Asamoah sees such scenarios on a regular basis. When she reconciles a new patient’s medications as part
Social Worker Joseph Alvino on How “Connecting with Others Can Really Help”
September 1, 2020–During the April peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, social worker Joseph Alvino was sick with COVID-19 himself—“I had every symptom in the book,” he says—and was also mourning the loss of his father from the illness. But Joe, who has been with VNSNY for over 25 years, opted to continue visiting patients by telephone, per COVID-19 protocols, a heroic act that gave him purpose and provided patients with a compassionate and expert resource. “It was important for me to keep my mind busy and active, doing the best I could to help my patients with all they’re dealing with,” says Joe. A full-time social worker with VNSNY Home Care’s Queens Branch 1, Joe cares for patients coping with a variety of medical conditions and for their often-overburdened family caregivers. During that April peak, at a time when even the simple act of going to the grocery
The Partners in Care Education Department: Training the Front Lines in Challenging Times
August 27, 2020–Home health aides are invaluable. They’re the boots on the ground for providing assistance with activities of daily living to patients and plan members, and they’ve never been more needed than during these critical pandemic times. The Partners in Care Education Department provides the thorough instruction and support that ensures that all Partners in Care home health aides have the necessary skills to care for their patients. “The department goes beyond the New York State Department of Health’s education requirements,” says physical therapist Sonia Rapaport, a Rehabilitation Instructor with Partners in Care. “No matter what pops up—from Ebola to COVID-19—the Education Department has always been there. Everybody jumps as high as they need to jump to get all the HHAs caught up as quickly as possible.” These days, they’ve never had to jump higher. The huge challenge with COVID, of course, has been that training has to turn on a
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
Nurse Fatima Shell-Sanchez: An “Angel” Who Uses Education to Protect Patients and Families
July 13, 2020–Across New York, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are dramatically lower now than they were only weeks ago, during the region’s peak. The state is embarking on a phased opening, and summer is beckoning people outside. But COVID-19 remains a clear and present threat, making careful preventive measures as important as ever, especially for vulnerable populations and people living in crowded conditions. VNSNY Home Care Nurse Fatima Shell-Sanchez has been caring for Bronx patients with and without COVID-19 throughout the crisis. These days she is actually ramping up her message on vigilance and commitment to patient education, because she knows that social distancing can be a real challenge—especially on a sunny afternoon—and that protocol updates can be confusing, particularly when there are language barriers. “In these neighborhoods, people know the disease is out there,” says Fatima. “They call it the 19—but they say, ‘I hear it’s dying down. They’re opening up
July 2020 Patient Letters
July 9, 2020–The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to prove the resilience and dedication of our entire VNSNY staff in the face of adversity. 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 the outstanding work and courage our VNSNY staff demonstrates each and every day. Brooklyn—Physical therapist Irene Espartinez received praise from a patient’s wife, who called to thank her for “pushing my husband to heal— but never too hard.” The patient’s wife also added that Irene was “polite and accommodating beyond belief.” Manhattan—“My wife and I do not have the words to express our deep gratitude for your compassionate assistance and the wonderful efforts of all we encountered in connection with my ordeal with COVID-19,” wrote a Manhattan patient. “From your immediate response in sending our wonderful nurse, Jennifer McCabe, who correctly helped
CMHS’s Clinical Case Management Program—Helping New Yorkers Recover their Lives…and Help Others
June 30, 2020–Working under contract with New York City’s Human Resources Administration, VNSNY’s Clinical Case Management (CCM) program, administered by VNSNY’s Community Mental Health Services (CMHS), assists recipients of public assistance who are dealing with substance use disorders and other barriers to self-sufficiency, connecting them with vital community resources and one-on-one support. Besides providing links to specific services, the program’s case managers give clients moral support and guidance each step along the way, helping them identify and appreciate their accomplishments to date and maintain the confidence to keep moving forward. “We are really part of the social fabric of our clients’ lives,” says the program’s Clinical Case Manager for Staten Island, Christina Nichols. Because of COVID-19, VNSNY clinical case managers like Christina are temporarily conducting virtual visits and offering support to clients remotely. “It’s a definite adjustment—they miss seeing us, and I miss seeing them and observing their lives up close,” says