RVNAhealth’s Theresa Santoro wins 2020 Judith Hriceniak Award for Excellence in Nursing Leadership

Prestigious annual tribute is awarded by the Connecticut Association
of Healthcare at Home (CAHCH)

Questions and Interview Requests:
Nancy Rowe, Marketing/PR
203-438-5555 x1033, nrowe@rvnahealth.org

Theresa Santoro, MSN, RN, CHCA, President and CEO of RVNAhealth was officially awarded the 2020 Judith Hriceniak Award for Excellence in Nursing Leadership on Friday, November 6th by the Connecticut Association for Healthcare at Home (CAHCH). The prestigious annual award, presented at the CAHCH annual conference, recognizes a nursing leader who serves as a visionary role model, inspires others through development and life-long learning, incorporates technology into the practice of nursing and patient education; and consistently displays strong communication and collaboration. Santoro was nominated by her RVNAhealth team, the beneficiaries of her talents and vision.

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For Immediate Release – November 5, 2020

Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Fairfield County and Waveny LifeCare Network Announce Proposed Affiliation

The Boards of Directors of Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Fairfield County (VNHFC) and Waveny LifeCare Network (WLN) are pleased to announce that they have entered into an exclusive letter of intent to combine home care and hospice operations to better serve patients in Fairfield County and beyond. The organizations intend to enter into a formal Affiliation Agreement by year end 2020, subject to final due diligence, regulatory approvals and final board approvals. The parties propose for VNHFC to initially become a wholly-owned subsidiary of WLN, but plan to explore the opportunity of formally merging operations with WLN’s affiliate, Waveny Home Healthcare, at a later date. The transaction is subject to review and approval by several governmental agencies, including Connecticut’s Department of Public Health, and separate approvals will be sought if the parties determine to formally merge.
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Ridgefield, Bethel and New Milford Visiting Nurse Associations (VNAs) Announce Plan to Join Forces and Expand Home Health and Hospice Services in Western Connecticut

Media Contact:
Nancy Rowe, Director of Marketing & Public Relations, RVNAhealth
nrowe@rvnahealth.org – 203-438-5555 x1033

Driven by a common commitment to deliver the highest quality health care to their patients and communities, Bethel Visiting Nurse Association, New Milford Visiting Nurse & Hospice, and RVNAhealth, announced plans today to merge their three organizations. The tri-union will result in a single not-for-profit, mission-driven organization, best able to meet the needs of the 36 communities they collectively serve in Fairfield, Litchfield, and New Haven counties, and highly sustainable for the long term. The agencies anticipate a close date by the end of 2020 and the unified organization will operate as RVNAhealth as approved by their respective Boards of Directors. This merger will make RVNAhealth one of the two largest home health and hospice organizations in Fairfield County and the seventh largest in the state of Connecticut.

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Congratulations to the following VNANE member agencies who made the SHP Best 2019 Home Health Patient Satisfaction Award Winners List (www.shpdata.com).

Berlin Visiting Nurse Association (Berlin, CT); Community Nurse Home Care (Fairhaven, MA); Community VNA (Attleboro, MA); Natick Walpole VNA (Walpole, MA); NVNA and Hospice (Norwell, MA); Stratford VNA (Stratford, CT).

Congratulations to the following VNANE member agencies who made the SHP Best 2019 Hospice Caregiver Satisfaction Award Winners List (www.shpdata.com).

Community Nurse Home Care (Fairhaven, MA); Nashoba Nursing Service & Hospice (Shirley, MA); NVNA and Hospice (Norwell, MA); VNA of Southern Worcester County, Inc. (Auburn, MA).

NVNA & Hospice SHP Best Home Health Patient Satisfaction 2019 Winner: Top 20% Superior Performer

Provided by Norwell VNA & Hospice:

Once again, [NVNA & Hospice] has been awarded the SHP Best Home Health Patient Satisfaction Award as a superior performer for 2019. The award, from Strategic Healthcare Programs, a nation vendor for home care and hospice benchmarks and patient satisfaction measurement, recognizes [NVNA & Hospice] for achieving an overall score that ranked [them] in the top 20% of agencies in the SHP national HHCAHPS benchmark (Medicare patient satisfaction benchmarks).

VNANE is excited to announce that our LinkedIn page is up and running as part of our Social Media Campaign.  The intention of the page is to continue to provide education to the public, our payer partners, and to our valued Non Profit, Community Based VNA and Hospice members in MA, RI & CT, on industry information that is relevant to Home Health Care and Hospice.

The page offers readers a link to our VNANE website (www.vnane.org) which contains educational information on Home Health Care and Hospice as well as the VNANE network.  The page can be accessed here https://www.linkedin.com/company/visiting-nurse-associations-of-new-england-vnane/ or by searching for Visiting Nurse Associations of New England from your LinkedIn account.  Please follow our page. The next phase of our campaign will be a VNANE Facebook Page.  More to come . . .

By Renee McInnes
Posted May 6, 2020

The World Health Assembly designated 2020 the “International Year of the Nurse and Midwife” in honor of Florence Nightingale’s 200th birthday. Little did they know how truly deserving this designation would be. If ever there were a time to celebrate nurses, it is now.

The COVID-19 pandemic has attacked and sent shockwaves throughout the entire world, especially through the healthcare community. Every day, nurses are on the frontlines treating patients and slowing the spread of the virus. They are demonstrating clinical skill and innovation. They are learning and applying quickly changing guidelines. Nurses are responding as they always have, with talent and courage.

Pictured above celebrating Stratford VNA’s 100 years are from left: Tracy Wodatch, CT Association President; Jason Chiodo, VP Business Development; Angela Leonzi, VP Patient Care Services; Mary Therien, President/CEO; and Courtney Verissimo, CT Association Membership and Event Manager.

The Stratford Visiting Nurse Association has been awarded a Top Workplaces 2019 honor by Hearst Connecticut Media Group while also celebrating 100 years serving the greater Stratford area. This is the ninth year this Top Workplaces award has been offered, and the Stratford VNA has made the list five times once ranked as number one. The list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by research partner Energage, LLC, a leading provider of technology-based employee engagement tools. The anonymous survey measures several aspects of workplace culture, including alignment, execution, effectiveness, and connection, just to name a few.

Pictured, front row, from left: Julie Gold, Alice Meenan, RVNA President & CEO Theresa Santoro, Betty Avery, and Clint Layog. Back row, from left:  Yhon Zuluaga, Deb Trevlin, Laurie Peffers, and Lesa Ciofalo

Contact: Tracy Brady, RVNA Assistant Marketing Manager

RVNA: (203) 438-5555, ext. 1081

Email: tbrady@ridgefieldvna.org

October 1, 2018

RVNA Wins Top Workplaces Award for Seventh Time

Ridgefield, CT – For the 7th time since 2011, RVNA has received a Top Workplaces award from Hearst Connecticut Media. The award is given to local companies that lead the way in workplace culture based on employee surveys. At RVNA, those employees include clinical staff – such as nurses, rehab therapists, and home health aids – as well as non-medical caregivers and administrative staff. RVNA falls into the mid-sized company category which includes companies with between 100 and 999 employees.

“RVNA has been caring for our community since 1914,” says, RVNA President and CEO Theresa Santoro. “Our ability to sustain the quality of care we provide is directly related to the excellence of our employees, who really are the heart of our organization. The more we support them in their roles – with training, an atmosphere of teamwork and respect, and a fabulous work environment – the more they succeed. It is so gratifying to hear that they continue to feel valued and appreciated at RVNA.”

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