For over a century, RVNAhealth, New Milford VNA and Hospice and Bethel VNA have been neighbors and collaborators, each serving a parallel mission in our respective communities. Over the decades, we have each grown- expanding our range of services, our territorial reach, and deepening our ties to the patients and families we serve.
In 2020, we came to the realization that there is strength and talent in numbers. By joining forces, we could all be stronger, better, and healthier for the long term. As organizations, we had a lot in common. We had over 300 years of history between us. We had parallel missions, overlapping services, and overlapping towns served. We shared common goals and common challenges.
So here we are 18 months later…How’s it going?
Below, Theresa Santoro, MSN, RN, CHCA, RVNAhealth President & Chief Executive Officer, shares her thoughts.
“I’m proud to say it is going well!
Our boards of directors have joined forces and established one, unified governing body to oversee and shepherd the combined centuries-long mission of a not-for-profit home health, hospice, and community health organization.
We’ve established a 3 -5-year strategic plan, a roadmap shaping the way for our future, ensuring we continue to meet the growing needs of all populations of people we serve in a changing healthcare landscape.
Our driving force is the health and well-being of our patients and communities- today, tomorrow and 50 years from now. Our patients were our priority. All patients under the care of New Milford and Bethel were seamlessly transferred to RVNAhealth. Today, we have an average daily census of nearly 1,100 patients across all our service lines. To accomplish this significant growth successfully, we pooled our collective talent and resources and invested deeply in people, service, and technology, all while managing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The merged organization has allowed us to grow and thrive while maintaining the mission-driven history of each former agency. Our new organization is stronger and more valuable for generations to come, and offers access to the best home and community healthcare.
We’ve adopted and grown all services and programs brought on at the merge and now have an enhanced continuum of care to address all ages, stages and levels of health including preventive and wellness programs.
We continue to uphold our legacies recognizing there is strength in collaboration to meet today’s challenges in delivering care. We’ve made significant investments in talent, programming, technology, and specialty services to meet the needs of a larger territory of towns served. By sharing these resources and making future investments together, we’ve set a stronger foundation for the future.”
Thank you Theresa! And thank you to the entire RVNAhealth employee population for working hard to ensure that patient care remained our top priority through the transitions of the last 18 months. We look forward to continuing to grow as a best-in-class agency for our employees and the communities we serve.
