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.
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.
Nursing Rehab Manager
The Vineyard Nursing Association has named Kathleen Samways, PT, DPT, manager of rehabilitation services and continuous quality improvement. The VNA said it created the new position to respond to the growth in demand for physical and occupational therapy services, which has more than doubled in five years. In 2007 there were 296 therapy patients, the VNA said; in 2011, 654 patients sought the same services.
The Vineyard Nursing Association announced that Lena Vanderhoop received the Effie Chalmers Wadell award for exceptional service in the delivery of home care at the 40th Annual Home Care Aide Celebration, co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Council for Home Care Aide Services and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs.
The Vineyard Nursing Association has announced a plan to expand its services to include hospice care, directly competing with Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, a 28-year-old Island institution which operates solely on donations, unfettered by the constraints of insurance regulations.
Vineyard Nursing Association has applied to become a licensed hospice provider certified under Medicare.
