VNS Health

As the month wraps up, we want to give a huge "thank you" to all of our team members who work hard every day to ensure that New Yorkers get the care they need and to allow people to be their true selves while receiving care. Pride Month and Alzheimer's & Brain Awareness Month may be coming to a close, but we're not going anywhere. We're here to support these two amazing and strong communities year-round! #PrideMonth #AlzheimersAwarenessMonth #BrainAwarenessMonth

Today is National HIV Testing Day and this year’s theme is “Level up your self-love: check your status!” Our SelectHealth team reminds you that taking a HIV test is part of your self-care and knowing your status helps you choose options to stay healthy. You can get free or low-cost HIV testing at local NYC sexual health clinics or at community-based organizations with testing programs.

We’ve recently launched our Foundational Leadership Excellence (FLX) program! The FLX program aims to develop leadership skills for our managers and supervisors by holding weekly interactive sessions and providing practical tools and resources for learning. Thanks to the program, more and more of our managers and supervisors are being empowered to be the best leaders they can be!

Our own Health Plans leaders Patricia Deferio & Carla Renders attended this year's New York Medical Group Management Association (NY MGMA) conference in Fairpoint, NY. The theme of Navigating Healthcare Excellence fits with our Health Plans goal of simplifying and easing the access of care for upstate NY members.

Congratulations to Dr. Shannon 🏳️🌈 Whittington 🏳️🌈DNP MSN RN CCM LGBTQ Certified, clinical director of the Gender Affirmation Program, Alex Karydi, director of Behavioral Health Product Development, and Arthur Fitting, LGBTQ+ Program Manager for being named in Crain's New York Business 2024 Notable LGBTQIA+ Leaders list! The list recognizes industry trailblazers who excel in their respective fields and strive to create inclusive workplaces. Thank you, Shannon, Alex, and Arthur, for helping LGBTQIA+ individuals get the care they need. Here are some of the notable projects our three team members have worked on. Alex helped establish the Safe Pathways Program in 2023, which provides clinical support and mental health resources for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC youth. Arthur helped lead a project with our Research Center and other community organizations to study LGBTQIA+ individuals' lived experiences. Shannon advanced Transgender health research and is currently working with Columbia University to propose a five-year NIH-funded study to improve gendering affirming patient care.

Congratulations to our Annual CCSS Employee of the Year award winner Jasmin Harry, contact agent II, and finalists, Renee Ashley, contact agent I, and Patrick Griffith, contact agent III! Jasmin has been with VNS Health for over three years and is supports the Health Plans Medicare team. Jasmine has been described by her coworkers that nominated her as someone who does everything she can to resolve her members’ issues on their first call. She always makes members feel important and valued. Jasmin is also a team player who shares information, knowledge, and resources with the Medicare team. Renee supports the Health Plans Managed Long Term Care team and has been with the organization for over nineteen years. One of our new contact agents shadowed Renee and said “Renee not only embodies these core values of Empathy, Integrity, and agility to our valued consumers, but she also expresses them to her fellow employees. She was kind, encouraging, and patent! Renee is an asset to her members and peers.” Patrick supports Home Care, My Home Care App and Hospice teams and started working at VNS Health in 2022. His work includes training new agents, addressing web inquires, troubleshooting for the My Home Care app, and handling client calls. Patrick is always willing to help his team and clients whenever it is needed. Thank you, Jasmin, Renee, Patrick, and all CCSS team members who handle the questions and concerns of all our clients and members.

Whether you're a clinician, nurse, or loving family member, caring for someone with dementia can be emotionally draining. That's why it's so important to focus on the positives. Take it from one of our amazing partners, Nettie Harper, who is the cofounder of Inspired Memory Care, Inc: "We hear information from the family. And we usually hear, unfortunately, what all the deficits are. When I go in, I'm looking at a fresh lens. 'Well, you know what, this patient has the ability to walk. She has the ability to shake my hand.' And I'm going to use these techniques and these strengths on how to engage and connect with their family member again. So it just depends on what's missing, but also, how do we connect? And that's important." Those connections are key for making dementia care at home a success. Check out how we provide dementia care in patients' homes: https://lnkd.in/dVuVtTCS #healthcarecareers #dementiacare #bepositive #alzheimersawarenessmonth #brainawarenessmonth

Happy Juneteenth! This holiday marks one of the most important days in US history, commemorating the end of slavery, and celebrating the achievements of Black Americans. To celebrate the holiday, our Shades of Blackness ERG held a beautiful event at our offices in Manhattan. The celebration had a team member lunch, trivia about Juneteenth history, raffles, and a Best-Dressed contest. A big thank you to Dominique Miller, Debra Thomas, Carla Greenidge, Sheila Bell, and all ERG members for hosting this amazing celebration! To our Black team members, we congratulate you on all of your achievements and thank you for everything you do. And to all of the communities we serve, we promise to uphold our mission to continue in the fight toward reducing health care disparities and providing care to all who need it. Have a great holiday! #Juneteenth #BlackHistory #BlackHealthCare

Last week, we were at the Hospice News Elevate Conference in Washington D.C! Teresa Lin, MBA, MSW, LSW, VP of cultural marketing development, spoke at a panel discussing how health equity and DEI efforts have grown in recent years. Carlin Brickner, DrPH, VP of data science and Anthony Spano of Netsmart talked about how predicative analytics are reshaping end-of-life care. A big thank you to our team members who went to the event and to Hospice News for having us.

We are thrilled to be joining countless other Healthcare industry leaders at this year's New York Medical Group Management Association (NY MGMA) conference!