Message from the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the President/CEO
Visiting Nurse & Health Services of Connecticut’s patients are more than just people to our caregivers. As the profiles in our annual report describe, our staff sees our patients not simply as patients, but as grandmothers and grandfathers, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, and sons and daughters. Our patients become individuals who, with
the care and support of VNHSC, are able to continue to live in their homes, living life as independently and to the fullest extent possible.
When a person becomes a patient of VNHSC, they come to see us as more than just a home health care agency. They will see an organization that is efficiently managed, strives to provide excellent customer service, and is willing to accept the risk of new initiatives if they lead to better care and services for our patients.
Visiting Nurse & Health Services of Connecticut is committed to providing the best possible care. This year, VNHSC was named to the 2006 Homecare Elite, the inaugural compilation of the most successful home care providers in the country. This ground-breaking review names the Medicare-certified agencies whose track records in quality improvement and financial performance are among the top 25% of providers nationwide.
In January, VNHSC opened A Caring Hand, a private care agency that provides an affordable alternative to long-term care. Our staff can assist with all care needs in the privacy and comfort of the client’s own home, including: personal care aides, homemakers, companions and 24 hour live-in care. Visiting Nurse & Health Services of Connecticut also began a Geriatric Care Management program this year. A Geriatric Care Manger is a resource expert who specializes in assisting with senior care issues as well as long term care arrangements for older adults and their families.
VNHSC is an organization that is committed to recruiting and retaining the best people possible. Our staff vacancy and turnover rates are one of the lowest in the industry. By striving to be the “employer of choice” we continue to focus efforts on the successful retention of our employees.
In 2006, volunteers donated their time and talents to VNHSC. They assisted with many activities that directly benefited our patients, including the delivery of meals on wheels, conducting telephone care calls to our discharged patients, and making home visits with patients and family members in our hospice program. The volunteers’ dedication to this agency is immeasurable, and for that we thank them.
Last year was a year of many accomplishments for Visiting Nurse & Health Services of Connecticut. We and the entire Board of Directors sincerely appreciate the caring efforts of the entire VNHSC staff: the nurses; physical, occupational and speech therapists; social workers, home health aides, homemakers, companions, business and support staff, volunteers and generous donors. Because of your efforts, VNHSC provided care to more than 17,827 patients last year.
As we look forward, we are confident that VNHSC will continue its commitment to providing excellent care and innovative services to our patients, to increasing our commitment to our workforce, and to setting the standard in home care and hospice services in our communities.