Melissa Woodhouse, OTR/L

Director of StayingWELL Non-Medical Services

As director of RVNAhealth StayingWELL Non-Medical Services , Melissa Woodhouse, RRT, MOT, OTR/L, CDP, is responsible for the overall direction and management of our non-medical caregiving services.

Expressing her passion for her work at RVNAhealth, Melissa wholeheartedly shares, “The most rewarding part of my role is helping patients and clients live their very best lives by providing them with the support they need. Homecare seemed to be the perfect career as an occupational therapist because you can see patients in their natural environment in order to help them function so that they may stay at home. It’s all about quality of life!”

Melissa began her journey with RVNAhealth in 2014 when she joined the team as an occupational therapist. She was promoted to rehab manager in 2017 and assumed her current role in early 2018. No stranger to complex work, Woodhouse began her medical career working as an ambulance EMT before shifting to the hospital setting at both Danbury Hospital and Hartford Hospital upon becoming a respiratory therapist. Melissa garnered experience covering all hospital floors: ICUs, medical and surgical floors, and ER. She found her passion working with patients suffering from ALS and lung diseases, which call upon both her respiratory and occupational therapy backgrounds.

Woodhouse holds a Master of Science degree in occupational therapy and a bachelor’s degree in health sciences, both from Quinnipiac University. She has also earned an associate's degree in respiratory therapy. Melissa grew up in Brookfield, CT, where she now raises her own family.