Find Out What’s Happening… News Briefs from Around VNSNY!

Welcome to an (all-virtual!) edition of “News Briefs from Around VNSNY”— featuring brief 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.

Mayor de Blasio Appoints Marki Flannery to Advise on City’s Reopening Strategy

VNSNY President and CEO Marki Flannery has accepted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s invitation to serve on the Mayor’s Public Health and Healthcare Sector Advisory Council, one of a number of sector advisory councils created to provide strategic advice and guidance on New York City’s plans for reopening. The Public Health and Healthcare Council will focus on delivery issues, workforce and resilience, the sector’s financial health, and learnings and best practices.

Up, Up & Away! Free JetBlue Flights for Nine VNSNY Heroes

If anybody deserves a vacation, it’s our healthcare workers actively serving on the COVID-19 front lines. In that spirit, JetBlue’s “Lifting Our Heroes” sweepstakes has given away 100,000 pairs of round-trip tickets to frontline workers caring for COVID-19 patients. Among the winners are twelve of VNSNY’s own: Ruth Caballero, Benyamin Cirlin, Juanita Doyle-Howard, Nancy Girlando, Collette Hendricks , Cynthia McGill, Toman Pang, Geralda Pelissier, Leah Sansano, Marie Tisi, Jocelyne Telfort, and Anne Thomas. Congratulations and bon voyage!

VNSNY Nurse Cidric Trinidad Honored as Local Hero

Earlier this month, Frontline profiled VNSNY Home Care Nurse Cidric Trinidad and his valiant work with families in East Elmhurst, Queens—one of the New York City neighborhoods most devastated by COVID-19. We’re thrilled to announce that Cidric has been selected for City & State New York’s Queens Heroes list, which highlights regional heroes whose exceptional work pulled the community together during these challenging times. Look for Cidric’s writeup in City & State New York on July 13.  Also, in case you missed it, you can view Cidric playing John Lennon’s “Imagine” in honor of our healthcare heroes and a more just world by clicking here.

VNSNY Coronavirus Response Fund: $2.4 Million and Counting

Through grants, foundation support, and gifts from individual donors, the VNSNY Coronavirus Response Fund has raised a whopping $2.3 million in a little over two months. Donations provide support, PPE, and other critical equipment to help our frontline staff remain safe and healthy as they continue to serve our patients and respond to the COVID-19 outbreak in New York. Click here for more information.

Facebook Feedback Boosts VNSNY Awareness

VNSNY’s high profile during the coronavirus pandemic has generated a huge surge of glowing attention on social media. To help maintain this online momentum, VNSNY recently launched a new Facebook profile frame featuring our logo together with the caption “We are stronger than our circumstances.” It’s a great way to inspire others while also showing support for VNSNY right now. Click here to add the VNSNY Facebook Frame to your own profile.

Help Us Thank Our Frontline Workers!

In recent weeks, volunteers have been sweetening the PPE bags of VNSNY’s intrepid field heroes with handwritten thank-you cards. We’d love your help in creating more cards to go into their bags! They don’t have to be fancy—2×3 index cards are a perfect size—and they can be as fancy or simple as you like, as long as they’re made by hand. (It’s a great project for the whole family!) Please mail your cards to Diana Vargas, PPE Supervisor VNSNY, 245 East 41st Street, Ground Floor, New York, NY 10017.  Click here to learn more.

It’s Not Too Late to Thank a Nurse!

National Nurses Month may be over, but we remain incredibly grateful for their heroic work and courage all year long—especially during these challenging COVID-19 pandemic times. Click here to read messages of thanks shared by your colleagues during the past month, and to send your own thank-you note to VNSNY’s nursing staff (it’s not too late!).

Children’s Mental Health Virtual Fair Took it to Zoom!

This year’s Children’s Mental Health Virtual Fair took the annual block party indoors—and made it virtual. The fair, sponsored by Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) and hosted by VNSNY’s Children Services/FRIENDS programs, was held on Zoom on May 13 and 14. The lively online event featured speakers from all corners of VNSNY, addressing topics ranging from poison control to family support. Fair-goers also enjoyed activities that included gift-card giveaways, children’s scavenger hunts, and music (complete with DJ!), Kudos to all involved, who worked incredibly hard to keep up the fair’s great tradition in the age of COVID-19.

Arthur Fitting & Shannon Whittington Win Top Crain’s LGBTQ Honor

Congratulations to VNSNY’s own Arthur Fitting, LGBT Program Manager, and Shannon Whittington, Clinical Director of VNSNY’s Gender Affirmation Program, who were recently named by Crain’s New York Business to the publication’s inaugural list of Notable LGBTQ Leaders & Executives. This list honors 70 LGBTQ business professionals who have had a major impact on New York City.

Virtual AIDS Walk Has Been Postponed

This year’s virtual AIDS Walk Live at Home, originally scheduled for Sunday, June 7, has been rescheduled to July 19th. To mark the 35th year of the AIDS Walk, this year’s event had been structured to allow social distancing by replacing the physical walk with an online program of special performances, fitness classes and other interactive features, live-streamed into people’s homes via Facebook Live, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter Live.

Pride Month Goes Virtual

Like pretty much everything else these days, this year’s Pride Month is going to be a little different due to the pandemic (read: no parade, and a lot more virtual activities). The first event of the month, a live-stream of the Queens virtual Pride Fest, took place on June 6. To view a recording of this event, click here. (VNSNY is profiled towards the end at 2:41:39.) You can also sample a bit of the Pride March float we would have had, in this inspiring video rendition of “We Are the World.” VNSNY has several more Pride features of our own in the works, which we’ll be announcing in the days to come. To give just one teaser—a lip-sync singalong with your favorite drag performers, anyone? Stay tuned for more details!

ACE Leadership Program Readies Delayed Launch as Participants Connect Virtually

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a longer ramp-up to the official kickoff of the 2020 ACE (Achieving a Culture of Excellence) Leadership Program. That kickoff will now take place on July 22—but program manager Amanda Weiner is making sure this year’s ACE group stays in touch in the interim. In addition to weekly emails and group chats, she recently hosted the first in a series of hour-long Zoom support sessions with all 30 ACE participants. “It was a great opportunity to start a dialogue, meet coaches, and answer questions,” says Amanda. “COVID has changed everything about our lives, including the program. What we’re focusing on now is leadership resilience and how to motivate others during uncertain times. These are the skills we need now, which are different than what leadership looked like even six months ago. We look forward to fully launching the revised program next month.”

A Brand-New Look for HRConnect

Get ready for a streamlined, simplified HRConnect experience! The new version of this online communication link to Human Resources, which went “live” recently, is easier to navigate, has a quicker response time, and automatically resizes based on your device. (Note: It works best on Chrome.) If you have questions or need assistance, please submit them through AskHR.

Virtual New-Hire Orientations a Success

With large in-person meetings not possible during the pandemic, VNSNY needed a way to continue holding orientation sessions for new VNSNY employees to welcome them and help them learn about the organization. The solution: “Virtual” orientations. Launched on April 13, these interactive sessions are being held about twice a month, and have run the gamut from 9 to 55 attendees so far. Offering live, real-time training, each session begins with a welcome from CEO Marki Flannery and then continues with presentations about VNSNY, our organizational structure, strategy, and values, and our focus on hospitality by our Executive Vice Presidents, Michael Bernstein and David Rosales. Each session also includes breakout rooms focused on different business areas such as VNSNY Home Care, Hospice, and CHOICE. A few days before each session, Paul Vandeyar, Education Project Manager, Clinical Support Services, also has each new hire log into the orientation virtual platform to make sure there are no transmission glitches. Feedback on the virtual approach has been very positive, notes Paul. “I think everyone did a really great job,” wrote one participant. “Everyone was warm and welcoming and made us feel connected.”

VNSNY Hospice Leaders Present at Veterans Online Healthcare Summit

VNSNY’s Rosemary Baughn, Senior Vice President of Hospice and Palliative Care, and Joe Vitti, Supervisor, VNSNY Hospice’s Veterans Program, received high praise after virtually presenting at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement’s Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare Online Summit 2020 in mid-May. As the only staff from a community healthcare provider presenting, Rosemary and Joe highlighted VNSNY’s relationship with the VA and our understanding of veterans and the issues they face. They have been invited to present again at the institute’s next summit in early December.