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March 28, 2024

A Personal Message from Marki Flannery, President and CEO

April 17, 2018

Hello, everyone—it is wonderful to be back! I want to thank those of you who I have personally met for the wonderful, warm welcome you’ve given me. Having been in my new position for one week now, I want to share with you how very pleased I am to be back at VNSNY, collaborating with an incredible group of leaders, clinicians, and staff as we move into our next 125 years. I couldn’t be prouder of the great people and the great work that we do here.

I’m also looking forward to the next year. As I told the VNSNY Board when I agreed to take on this position for one year, I am hopeful that during this time the organization will continue to solidify the leadership team that will carry VNSNY into the future. In the meantime, I very much need your support over the coming year, as we continue working to achieve the goals we’ve established for the organization. Among other things, we have to continue to strengthen the reputation of this organization. Accomplishing these goals is absolutely critical, and I need your help in making that happen.

When I returned to VNSNY after my five months away, one of the things the VNSNY Board asked me to do was to review the strategic plan and 2018 budget that was presented to the Board earlier this year, to get my perspective on the feasibility of its timeline and budget. I’m in the midst of that review now, and will be sharing my perspective with the Board on Tuesday.

Another important priority for me is to make sure that everyone in the organization is strengthened and energized. One of the things I intend to do over the next month is to meet with managers across the enterprise, to get a sense of what is and isn’t working well, and what things we need to focus on. I also plan to visit each of the VNSNY regional offices to meet with staff, say hello, and share some of the priorities of the organization.

I will be meeting with a number of our key customers as well, and will get meetings scheduled with the New York State Health Department and other key individuals up in Albany, to make sure they’re comfortable with where the organization is going. I’m also getting up to speed on where things stand with our IT transformation, including our HomeCare HomeBase electronic medical record. Again, I need to understand what’s working well and what isn’t, and what needs to happen to make sure we’re getting the support we need.

Finally, one of the things I’m most concerned about, both on the Provider side and in our CHOICE health plans, is our customer experience rating. Simply put, we need to a better job of delivering the best possible experience to our customers. I realize there’s been a lot on everyone’s plate over the course of the last year, but improving the experience of our customers has to be a top priority—both the experience of our referral sources, and experience of the people we serve in the community every day. Not only is improving that experience the right thing to do for those we serve, but as we move into the future, our revenue is becoming more and more dependent on our scores in these areas. Going forward, I need all of you to be responsible for our customers’ experience. Every single person in this organization has to make customer experience a constant part of their job. In the months to come, I will be following our scores the same way our referring customers do, and I’m going to be holding everyone accountable for making improvements in this area.

2018 is also a big year historically for VNSNY, of course. It’s our 125th anniversary, and we’ll be celebrating that throughout the year. We have a number of other anniversaries this year as well: Partners in Care and Hospice Palliative Care are both 35 years old this year, our Research Center turns 25 years, and it’s also the 20th anniversary of CHOICE MLTC. These are all important milestones that we need to celebrate. And the staff at 1250 Broadway have a big move coming up, starting in August, to a fresh, clean location. There is a lot going on, and I’m really looking forward to working with all of you over the course of the year to make sure that we’re on the right track.

VNSNY is an incredible organization. I’ve spent 35 years here, and I genuinely care about the organization and the people who work for it. The future of VNSNY is important to me, which is why I came back. I know many of you have been here a long time as well, and that you feel the same way I do. We need to continue to move this organization forward, and I’m counting on each and every one of you to help ensure that we make the necessary improvements so that people feel good about working here, about referring patients and clients to us, and about being served by us.

Thank you.

Marki Flannery, President and CEO