An Interview with Jim Rolla, New Senior Vice President for Partners in Care

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 changed in health care in response to COVID-19. What’s your vision for Partners in Care going forward?

Our first priority is to rebuild our operation after these difficult months. But dealing with the pandemic also pointed us to new opportunities. We ramped up our use of the SMC and CareConnect phone apps to communicate with our home health aides during the pandemic, and we launched an online Partners in Care resources page where aides and other Partners in Care staff can access important information. We’re also working on developing online training for newly hired home health aides and online in-service education for our home health aides.

What are the implications of remote training for VNSNY?

It opens up real opportunities, starting with our plans to expand VNSNY’s presence in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester Counties and Staten Island. We’ve always had great people who couldn’t take our three-week in-person training program, because of family or work obligations or where they lived. With online training and certification, we’ll be able to hire more home health aides and take on more clients in areas where there’s a real need for our home health services. We’ve submitted our proposal to the Department of Health and we hope to start soon. Next, we hope to roll out online training for our in-service education, which will allow current aides to meet their annual requirements remotely.

How is Partners in Care handling the fact that COVID-19 is going to be with us for a while?

We start by recognizing our incredible workforce and all that they’ve done this year. Nearly seven months into the pandemic, we have home health aides who have worked every day, seeing patients, and taking public transportation or walking long distances. They bravely define what it means to be essential workers. Led by our dedicated aides, we will continue to deliver the same high-quality care we always have. Along with delivering quality care, our focus has always been on our staff’s safety, and that’s never been more of a priority than it is now. We’ll innovate as much as we can with technology, but we still largely operate on a person-to-person basis, which means making sure each of our staff has the protective equipment and safety protocols they need.

How do you see the role of nursing care at Partners in Care going forward?

Our nurses already play a critical role in providing post-hospital care, and keeping patients out of the hospital and helping them age safely at home. But I’d like them to play an even bigger role, and really become care managers—looking beyond the primary diagnosis and treating the entire patient. This isn’t how our industry has traditionally worked, but I think our nurses are uniquely qualified to demonstrate the real value that home care can deliver. I’d very much like to start a discussion with our nursing staff about this. Of course, they’re the experts.

You’ve spent 27 years working in home health care. Where were you before VNSNY?

I spent 20 years at People Care, a New York-area in-home care provider. It’s a licensed agency, just like Partners in Care. I oversaw their daily operations, including their quality programs as well as the opening of two new locations in New York and expanding their existing operations in Nassau County and New Jersey.

You’ve also had another career-related commitment the last few years.

Yes. Three years ago, I went back to school for a Master of Social Work degree at Yeshiva University in Washington Heights. I enrolled in a part-time program so I could continue to work, and I’m looking forward to graduating in May. I always wanted to become a social worker, going back to Clarke High School on Long Island, but I ended up pursuing a different path. When my mom died suddenly a few years ago, I was so impressed with the hospital’s social workers that I felt I had to go back to school to get my social work degree. I just decided, I’m going to do this for her.

Has it been worth the time and effort?

Absolutely! It’s been an amazing, eye-opening experience, and it’s really changed the way I look at my job. I’m much more appreciative now of how the decisions I make affect other people, and how important it is to make sure everyone’s voices and perspectives are heard. I’m so glad I did this.

In the spring, Partners in Care set up group calls for home health aides dealing with COVID-19. Are you still holding those calls?

We are, twice a week. We continue to learn so much from them. At first, the calls were mostly about the incredible challenges the aides were facing, and it helped us address those challenges. They’ve evolved as the situation has evolved, and now we’re hearing about concerns like dealing with childcare when the New York school situation is so unsettled. Most importantly, the calls have established a real connection to VNSNY for the aides, and helped highlight the critical role they play as part of our care teams.

Encouraging diversity is a key VNSNY goal. How is Partners in Care working to achieve that goal?

It’s very much on my agenda, with a focus on the Partners in Care’s leadership and on promoting from within. So stay tuned! I also want to note that Partners in Care already has an incredibly diverse workforce. Our staff is from all over the world, including many people from the West Indies, China, Russia, and Guyana. Our aides speak seven languages, which is a great benefit to our very diverse New York client base.

Is there a message you’d like to send as you start in your new role?

Yes, and it’s an important one: I will be accessible to everyone, and I’ve got an open door—literally and figuratively! I also want to get out and meet with our field staff. I need to hear directly from them what their concerns and ideas are. Finally, I want to say how proud I am to work with such an amazing group of people. Partners in Care has built an incredible legacy over the years, especially with its response to the coronavirus. Together we can build on that legacy and continue to deliver safe, high-quality care in an ever-changing healthcare system and an ever-changing New York.