Our Island is blessed with committed and skilled health professionals. We have all the components needed to achieve an integrated and accountable health care experience for residents.
The Vineyard Nursing Association announced an agreement to sell its operations to Cape Cod Health Care in January. Last week that agreement fell through.
The Vineyard Nursing Association officially closed its doors on Tuesday. The Visiting Nurse Association of Cape Cod now assumes care of Vineyard patients. Officials at VNA said the transition was smooth but Island boards of health officials said they were caught off guard.
The financially-strapped Vineyard Nursing Association has signed an agreement to sell its operations on both Islands to Cape Cod Healthcare, a large consortium that owns a visiting nurse agency.
Facing a severe revenue shortfall, the Vineyard Nursing Association is on track to end the year with a large and unsustainable operating loss, leaders at the Island’s only home health care agency told the Gazette this week.
I read with more than a passing interest the article, “Looming Federal Cuts May Impact Already-Strained Elder, Education Services” in the March 1 issue of the Vineyard Gazette. The Vineyard Nursing Association (VNA) is a critical health care provider for elders on Martha’s Vineyard and should be added to the list of providers impacted by the sequestration. In fact, the VNA faces larger and more immediate cuts than were discussed in the article.
A free flu shot clinic hosted last Sunday by the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Vineyard Nursing Association and Island boards of health was called a success by town officials and health care workers.
“We will be less sick as a little population because of this effort, and I wanted to commend the collaboration,” Cynthia Mitchell, West Tisbury selectman and executive at Island Health Clinic, said at the town selectmen’s meeting this week.
The Island’s surviving home health care agency has a full plate.
The Vineyard Nursing Association is moving quickly to absorb a 50 per cent increase in patients and a 20 per cent increase in employees while expanding its services and stepping up professional training for its employees, said Robert Tonti, chief executive officer of the association.
And Mr. Tonti has started the process of finding larger space to accommodate the unexpected growth.
