VNA of Care New England
VNA of Care New England is dedicated to providing quality health care and developing programs and resources to benefit the community. This mission is accomplished by working with providers, consumers, and community-based organizations to address changing health care needs.
Description:
VNA of Care New England, consisting of the VNA of Care New England, a Medicare certified home care agency, and HealthTouch, a private-duty home care agency, provide the complete spectrum of home health needs in communities across Rhode Island. We are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and our highly skilled staff includes nurses, therapists, nursing aides, and social workers.
VNA of Care New England cares for individuals of all ages, ranging from infants to seniors. In addition to our home health visits and postpartum doula program, we provide health screenings, influenza and pneumonia vaccines, bereavement and support groups, and wellness clinics in a variety of locations around the state.
History:
On June 1, 1999, Kent County Visiting Nurse Association (KCVNA) became a partner in the CARE NEW ENGLAND family of healthcare providers and on September 29, 1999 officially announced its new name, VNA of Care New England (VNACNE).
The VNA of Care New England is the senior partner in Care New England Home Health, joined by HealthTouch, Inc. and provides a wide variety of services to the community. Therapeutic, maternal-child health and hospice nurses; physical, occupational and speech therapists; nursing assistants; medical social workers; volunteers and clergy all make home visits. Nutritional and psychiatric nurse consultants are also available. In addition to home visits, wellness clinics are held monthly at retail locations, elderly housing complexes and meal sites. Thousands of Rhode Islanders are immunized annually against influenza and pneumonia at hundreds of VNACNE sponsored public clinics.
The Agency participates with schools and colleges in providing field experience for future health practitioners. Agreements are currently with the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and others on request.
This Agency has a long and proud history of serving communities throughout Rhode Island. In 2003, KCVNA celebrated 95 years of providing high quality home and community healthcare.
In 1908, the Visiting Nurse and Anti-Tuberculosis Association of Pawtuxet Valley was organized by a group of women who wanted to do something for the betterment of the residents of the community. The Agency covered the towns of West Warwick, Coventry and Scituate. Its purpose was to benefit those who needed the services of a trained nurse and to fight tuberculosis.
Two years later, in 1910, the East Greenwich Nurse and Anti-Tuberculosis Association was founded. The community of Apponaug was included in its original name, but was dropped in 1912 because the Association could not meet its quota to carry on work in that area. The scope of its services was to stamp out tuberculosis, give aid to the needy, provide visits to the sick and instructions to young mothers.
Finances were always problematic. In 1910, approximately 75% of the patients received free visits. In 1914, the Warwick Health League was founded by a group of men who saw the need to “promote and improve general health conditions in the town of Warwick.” Through the years, the three agencies offered similar programs. They provided milk for school children and undernourished patients and put together boxes of clothing for the needy at Christmas. By the 1920’s, there was a 50 cents per visit charge, although many patients did not know they were expected to pay.
Major public health concern with the costs of care had been signaled by the activity of the Committee on the Costs of Medical Care nationally in the early and mid 1930s. By 1940, hospitals in particular were threatened by the inability to meet rising charges. Under this stimulus, the “Blue Cross” hospital insurance plans blossomed all across the country, nowhere more vigorously than in Rhode Island. “Blue Shield” plans designed largely to insure against the high cost of the surgeon’s services followed and began to hear the now-familiar term “third-party payment”.
In the 1950s, Public Health nurses continued to provide services in the home. Their primary focus was on Infant Welfare and Maternal Infant services as well as Preschool Health Services. In the mid 1950s, VNAs were making the majority of their visits for bedside care to the chronically ill. These were usually financed by local communities or towns and were seen as part of the public health commitment.
By the mid 1960s, the Pawtuxet Valley and East Greenwich Anti-Tuberculosis Association dropped the “Anti-Tuberculosis” from their name because the incidence of the disease had decreased so dramatically. In 1964, Rhode Island had 27 Visiting Nurse Associations. Six of these agencies received their main support from towns.
In 1965, one of the most significant events for Visiting Nurse Agencies and healthcare providers overall occurred. Two particularly important Titles were added to the Social Security Act. Under Title XVII, “Health Insurance for the Aged” or Medicare as it has come to be known, a national program of health insurance for the aged was established. Similarly, Title XIX, “Grants to the States for Medical Assistance Programs”, was created. Medicaid, as it was known, expanded medical assistance to groups other than the elderly. Also, in 1965, the starting salary for nurses was $4000 with a maximum of $5000!
Medicare, in particular, drained Agency’s financial and personnel resources. There was a great deal of mandated services and increased administrative time required to manage this new program. As the number of Medicare visits increased, the smaller agencies like the East Greenwich Agency and the Warwick Health League began to see the necessity of cooperation between them.
East Greenwich contracted with Warwick for supervision and in 1968, the two agencies merged to provide better services to the community. The new name became Kent County East VNA. The Rhode Island Department of Health strongly encouraged mergers throughout the state and in 1971, Pawtuxet Valley VNA and Kent County East VNA consolidated to become Kent County Visiting Nurse Association.
For a short time, the new Agency maintained two offices, one on West Shore Road in Warwick and one on Factory Street in West Warwick, before moving the total operation to Factory Street. In 1979, the Agency built its current quarters on land leased from Kent County Memorial Hospital.
In the 1970s, the Agency expanded its health promotion programs to include health screening and education programs to the senior centers and elderly housing complexes. A 24-hour answering service was instituted to better serve the needs of patients.
In 1972, a formal Maternal Child Health Coordination Program was instituted at Kent County Memorial Hospital. Well child clinics were held throughout the county. A measles epidemic broke out in 1979 and more that 900 immunizations were given in West Warwick alone. In 1978, KCVNA received its initial accreditation from the CHAP Program of the National League for Nursing.
The 1980s brought regulatory changes that included the opening of the home health industry to organizations other than not-for-profits. Both the Federal Government and private health insurers instituted cost containment measures. Diagnosis Related Groups or DRGs as we have come to know them, limited hospital stays, resulting in patients being discharged sooner and the creation of the “quicker and sicker” syndrome. Intensive care service needs for VNA patients increased and IV certification for staff became a necessity.
In 1990, the MCH cachement area expanded to include Cranston with the Pawtucket/Central Falls areas being added in 1992. This was also the year the KCVNA was awarded the statewide MCH Coordinator contract. In 1995, when collaborations and affiliations were becoming a common theme, KCVNA took a proactive step and affiliated with VNS Homecare and HealthTouch to form SENECA Health System.
In December of 1996, the Agency underwent its first Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations survey. KCVNA received Accreditation with Commendation after the Joint Commission determined that the Agency met stringent guidelines and sustained the highest standards of excellence in the home health industry. The MCH Program also expanded its service area to include the Northern Region and in 1997, the Metropolitan region.
1998 brought many challenges. Medicare home health spending had grown from $3.9 billion nationally in 1990 to $18.3 billion in 1996. In an effort to achieve a balanced budget and save the Medicare program, Congress passed the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA). The BBA called for implementation of a prospective payment system for home care by October 1, 1999. In the interim, commencing with fiscal year 1998, an interim payment system (IPS), with per beneficiary caps was designed. IPS was seen as a bridge to a prospective payment system that would provide incentives to home care providers to deliver only the necessary amount of care for patients to achieve the best outcomes. Industry effects of the IPS were devastating with over 2,000 agencies closing nationwide.
KCVNA managed to survive this turbulent time by implementing several cost-cutting measures, including management, administrative, and direct care staff layoffs, wage freezes and close monitoring of utilization and productivity. With all of the negativity surrounding the home health industry, KCVNA managed to successfully redesign its Care Delivery System. This new system renewed the focus of caregiver on achieving patient, family; staff and referral source satisfaction by providing personalized family oriented quality care.
HealthTouch, Inc., a not-for-profit private-duty home health agency joined Care New England Home Health in December of 2000. For over twenty years, HealthTouch has cared for those in need by providing quality private-duty home health care services in the home.
As Care New England Home Health enters a new era, it is with recognition of a legacy that has served to build a solid foundation. Through the years, the philosophy of community health nursing has remained constant; to provide skilled services to the sick, to engage in health promotion and educational programs for the community at large, and to perform other charitable acts. The VNA of Care New England and HealthTouch, Inc. will continue on with this tradition.
Contact person: Katie Thurber, (401) 681-1150 x 1026, (email)
Office fax number: 401-732-6210
Address:
Web Site: http://www.cnehomehealth.org
Directions:
 |
From north of Warwick, Rhode Island:
Take Interstate 95 South to Exit 10B (Route 117 West)
Proceed on Route 117 West to first traffic light.
Take a right onto Commonwealth Avenue.
Take the 2nd right off Commonwealth onto Leon E. Whipple Road.
Go to the end of the street.
At the stop sign, take a left onto Toll Gate Road.
Kent Hospital will be on the right.
Go past the hospital and take a right onto Health Lane at the Hospital's main entrance.
VNA is the last building on the right.
From south of Warwick, Rhode Island:
Take Interstate 95 North to Exit 10 (Route 117)
Take a left onto Route 117 and proceed as above to first traffic light.
Take a right onto Commonwealth Avenue.
Take the 2nd right off Commonwealth onto Leon E. Whipple Road.
Go to the end of the street.
At the stop sign, take a left onto Toll Gate Road.
Kent Hospital will be on the right.
Go past the hospital and take a right onto Health Lane at the Hospital's main entrance.
VNA is the last building on the right. |
Miscellaneous Information
| Handicap accessible? |
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Yes
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| Interests Served: |
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Helping People in Crisis
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| Does your agency accept court-appointed volunteers? |
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No
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| What type of organization |
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Nonprofit 501(c)(3)
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| Last updated on November 4, 2009 |
