I am including below a note I wrote to my daughter last weekend in response to the fact that she is working nights at UVA Med Center in Virginia and I work days, so it’s been hard for us to chat since Christmas. She was wondering, as I heard, what I was up to here at the VNA (Visiting Nurses) and sure enough I sat down and reflected on the week that had just passed and shared some of my observations.
DISCLAIMER: This is truly a personal note, so read with that understanding and please take no offense if I have erred in any way and you were part of the week I describe.
NOW, this was a whole week so it’s long (perhaps essay is the correct description)and it’s reflective and it’s, frankly, a little bit of stream of consciousness knowing I’m writing to my daughter. SO, I invite you to read or not read as you choose, as this certainly isn’t required reading for anyone but my daughter. It isn’t finely tuned, it isn’t grammatically reviewed, it is simply me and my own poetic license, talking to her when she had a day off to read for herself what I’ve been up to in this fascinating world of healthcare. I’m sharing at large to give anyone else who perhaps is wondering what the new leader of the VNA has been up to.
If you ever wondered what the VNA does (obviously this doesn’t apply to employees!), or what a new leader trying to learn as much as possible at the VNA has been doing, read on.One week in the life…….
----------------------- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: tom thees <tthees@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 11:09 AM
Subject: Note to Daughter Allie-Boo, Saturday, 1/7/12
Allie-boo!!!
How r u!
Heard u had a great night out from Mom!! and.... we didn't get to talk and I know you are tired from your night shift in the hospital so I thought I’d write you a little note on my week and how I’m doing! I know you are doing great because I have a much better appreciation for what nurses do, and you're a nurse!
Anyway, this week I was in Newark, NJ at the New CommunityCorporation, an organization that basically tries to provide and empower the disadvantaged population of Newark. The NCC was founded by Monsignor Linder, who has been in Newark on this mission since the Newark riots in the late 60s and NCC is regarded internationally as one of the most successful community developmentprograms in the world. The Essex Valley VNA is now run by the VNAHG and we serve that community from our VNA--- We have incredible people and managers and nurses that administer all of the VNA programs in Essex and Hudson county, including nurses who care forpatients out of their cars given the uncertainty on patients livingarrangements in some cases. There was a nice story on this recentlyin the Star Ledger about our nurses out in the streets and serving the people---
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/newark_coalition_strives_to_tr.html
I went with a nurse on one (my second) home care visit to just get an even better understanding of what the nurses do and the challenges they have to provide the care they so lovingly give. We went into oneof the housing buildings and met with a patient and most of the time was spent trying to have the patient to better understand the medicine regimen he was on. The nurse bought (yes, bought, not brought) the patient a pillbox because she was hoping that would help the patient and his wife keep track of the medicines taken (or mostly not taken). This patient was a diabetic, so high risk, and his ability to understand was reasonable, but then he forgets when thenurse isn't there. Let's just say this; each encounter is meaningful,and each situation is unique.
Then I went with our head nurse to visit with Monsignor Linder. We had a great meeting with this interesting and incredible man, who has been spearheading the caring in Newark for over 40 years. We talked senior housing, health care delivery methods, community development (got a book he recommended by Illich called "Deschooling Society, as Illich was a mentor to Msgr.), and we talked about Bill and Hillary Clinton as the Msgr. joined President Clinton as part of his party to go to Northern Ireland in the 90s to bring that whole part of Ireland together. Amazing stuff, and then we talked some politics, as the Msgr has seen his fair share of it in Newark and this world. Me? I took notes. And I noted all the pictures and framed docs on the walls adorning his sitting room. Amazing.
OH! I forgot, I went into the Red Bank office first, and I walked into the first day of our 100 year celebration! There were balloons and car decals and our marketing team greeted everyone with a bigsmile and welcome update on our Centennial year celebration!. I put aVNA sticker on the car for good luck! I recorded and also sent a message to all employees welcoming them to our 100th year. Allie, we are going to celebrate the 100th anniversary at Ellis Island at a dinner Gala on Saturday, 6/23rd, and there are like 100+ volunteers already working on making this night happen. It is very important for the VNAHG to have a successful night as this is a key fundraiser in 2012 for the many programs we deliver to the community. Hopefully we will be able to tap into the generous and fortunate members of our community and the many communities statewide that are served by the VNA and make this a special night, but also a runway for some key funding.
That was Tuesday.
On Wednesday I went to Hainesport, NJ, which is out by Cherry Hill on I295, which allowed me a good 1 1/2 hours in the car to listen to my Frank Delaney book. I had breakfast with the gentleman who had just retired from managing our call center, and he had such an interesting background and enjoyable work experience in his career from Minnesota to California to New Jersey, where he came because he was doing so much work with Campbell Soup. Hainesport is where we have our Burlington and Gloucester county VNA (formerly VNHS) and also where we have our statewide call center----all the calls go there and I sat w a call manager named Rose and listened in on a few calls--- 700+ calls a day!etc etc -- /PS. Rose couldn't tell me enough how much she loves her job and the great camaraderie she and her teammates have in the call center.
I started that day in the team hospice meeting, and the team of nurses, therapists, music therapist, Reiki therapy, pet therapy and pastoral care were in the room with the two doctors who oversee the orders for care for the patients- I stayed for an hour but they werethere all day reviewing each patient and the progress/needs plan. Then I met the schedulers, whose job it is to plan the nurses and hospiceworkers schedule of home care visits (and home health aides and therapy people too)----lots to manage!
Then I saw the people who manage the Early Intervention Program--what's that? Well, the VNA has two counties (Burlington and Monmouth) where we are the care coordinators for EIP, which is for children 0-3yrs old who have some developmental disability to ensure they are receiving all the options and care/help the social services can provide them. Each case manager deals with approx 100 children and families, and what I found very interesting about this segment was that, in most cases, the nurses and caregivers here are part of aprocess where a child is making progress and improving due to our care/help in 90% of the cases. So they find it very rewarding to be with patients that are progressing (not to say all the others don't, but obviously in hospice this isn't the case, for one). THEN, we met with the home care and the grants manager. We apply for funding and receive support/grants to fund the community programs we administer (like Early Intervention), and we have very good relationships with a host of the county and state teams that are working with those programs. The home care for the region is similarto the rest of the state, but each geographic area has its unique population and demographics, of course, and each patient is connected with a nurse who provides the prescribed care in an incredible way.
And that was Wednesday from 9am-1pm!!!!
Then we came back to Red Bank to discuss some Medicare paperwork processing issues. All healthcare organizations deal with an immense amount of documentation that is both regulated and burdensome, but certainly some subset of it is absolutely necessary. So a great nurse is one who can provide the best care to patients with compassion, AND be technologically proficient to manage the documentation required both for providing that care and also for the organization to be properly reimbursed. It is, from what I see, an almost overwhelming burden on top of our main priority, which is of course caring for patients and responding to every request the VNA receives to provide care wherever needed, whenever called, regardless of circumstance, and give the best care possible. We changed a few things in that meeting to try to lighten the burden, so we'll see how that goes.
Well, then it was Thursday and I was in the office all day. I first met with my executive admininstrator to ensure I knew this person's role and tasks completely and also go over schedules and responsibilities.
Then I met with our human resources team to discuss our workforce at large and then specifically. We have four unions that we work within some subsets of the organization, and the HR team coordinates that relationship in addition to all the other standard interaction with employees. With nearly 1700 full and part-time employees, the HR team also deals with any and all problems that arise within the team including recruitment, training, and probably anything else one can think of. And guess what, employee orientation is on the first Monday of the month, so as a new employee I'll be joining the other 21 new employees in the last month for Employee Orientation. It lasts all day and the entire orientation team takes incredible pride in ensuring that the legacy of this 100 year old organization is shared with every new employee, so that the new employees start off on the right foot and know that each and every effort by every employee is important to the overall success of the organization. This business is encumbered by a planned reduction in revenue for the same service EVERY year. Every employee needs to know that it will take the entire team to succeed with annual Medicare cuts of 2-4%and cost increases of course due to salaries and other naturally rising costs of the business like rents and supplies. So each employee's dedication is essential, from the less than 10-20 people whojust started in December (that's me, for one) to the nearly 100 employees who have been with the organization for over 20 years of dedicated service.
We actually had two 20 year anniversaries yesterday, 1/6/12, and I thought it was nice thing to do to send them a note to congratulate them on their tenure and dedication, so I did.
I'm not Mrs. Christopher (my CEO predecessor), obviously, as I am very different with a different background and experience. I know shewas incredibly dedicated 24/7 for 29 years to the organization, so those aren't shoes one can fill. So, I'm just being me and assessing what I think are the important issues that I think the CEO should be dealing with, and I think I have the key 2 or 3 for the next month for sure. Away from that, I am focused on meeting every employee I can and learning as much as possible about what we do, how we do it, and how I can help support that effort as a leader.
Where was I? Thursday, noon, quick meeting with the CEO search committee via conference call to ensure all the committee members confirmed their calendars and availability for our planned meetings in February as we determine the next full-time leader of the VNAHG.
Then I met with one of those 20+ year veterans and the leader of allof our Community and Grants programs for the entire organization.T has been with the organization for many years, and has had a hand in almost every program and she started our Hospice VNA a very long time ago. I received further education on the variety of programs we have,including our Mobile Outreach Program (40 sites in NJ now), SeniorWellness, Global Options (case management to keep seniors in their homes) and TeleHealth (technology continues to positively impact ourdelivery of healthcare). Frankly, the meeting was way too short and I really looking forward to learning so much more from this gifted and giving individual. But, she had to go to a meeting with over 20 community program leaders from other organizations to further our efforts regardinga particular program that was available for grant.
And I had a meeting, too! My first meeting with all the Clinical Managers, the nurse and therapy team leaders. Of course everything is organized by teams and geography but this was the entire leadership team for our nurses and they are responsible for knowing almost everything about their team, the patients cared for, the workload and how the management of that is going. Remember, we never say no. No matter what time of day or night, holiday or Christmas! There are so many stories of our nurses (or their manager) getting a call and needed to get somewhere in a blizzard (like in Late October, 2011) with the help of our maintenance team driving them. Those nurses respond to the call at midnight that the IV fell out and needs to be reinserted and can someone come NOW? OF course, someone being one of our nurses goes and does that. Anyway, I watched and listened as every team reviewed their weekly and monthly census numbers including both the case outcomes and the business aspect of these cases (documentation counts, as I said earlier). Well, I enjoyed seeing the team engagement as the managers discussed some of the current challenges inthe field including patient outcomes and some technique improvements thatshowed progress in either process or management of their teams.
Okay, Thursday was also the day I started my juice cleanse that you guys gave me for Christmas, and I felt fine all day drinking 6 different juices in my effortto kick start a healthy 2012.
Friday! Last day of the week! I've slept well all week, and in addition I've eaten well or not at all and have had no drink other than water or juice. Quite a different week than my average 2011!Friday was another meeting day.
Had another meeting on documentation and our need to improve a fewprocesses. Sounds a bit petty, probably, for a CEO to be talking documentation? Well, without documents, we do not get reimbursed. Without reimbursement, we put our mission at risk. As nice and friendly as the state and federal government are, and even though weare a non-profit competing in a world with a host of for-profit homehealth care and hospice businesses, no one is going to come running to our rescue should we not manage our processes and deal with the challenges the regulatory framework requires. But Tom, don't other organizations have that same challenge? Yes, they do, except a host of those organizations can choose to use the word NO in response to there quest for care. If it isn't convenient, NO. If it isn't profitable, NO. If it is too hard to get to, too expensive, too burdensome today, NO. Not that they start with NO, and I'm sure our competitors do good work and in no way am I derogating their efforts. We CAN choose to use the word NO, as well; I'm just saying we DON'T. We DO NOT use the word NO. We use YES. YES in a blizzard, YES at midnight, YES if it is specialized care, YES if it is a simple visit, YES if you can pay, YES if you have insurance, YES if you can't pay. I know all the people at the VNAHG have an incredible respect for this, our mission, and part of our mission is to ensure the future of the care we provide, for many years to come. 100 years have passed successfully in that mission on 6/24/2012 (yes, it started 6/24/1912),and I join with this VNAHG team to ensure that ongoing mission for many, many years to come.
WOW, Allie, I'm almost done, but it's been a good week of learning and growing, which is how I think every week should be, wherever we are.
So, post that meeting I met with our outside counsel, to get his perspective and experience with the organization. He has been working with the VNA since 1990, so he knows well the history and the people and has been intimately involved in many areas over the years. We spent an enjoyable time together and he shared great perspective with me on the overall business of home care, hospice and the state of affairs in the business in general. We also shared some local stories of Belmar, NJ and high school years as we never crossed paths but certainly knew a few of the same people. It takes all kinds of skill and talents to effectively run an organization like the VNAHG, and I really respect the legal team (we have one other outside counsel as well), the accounting team, the technology team, and the host of other support services required to navigate the choppy waters of this business environment. All the while, paramount in our minds is patient care and the delivery of that care where it is needed.
Then I had a meeting with one of our board members. I'm trying to spend time with each board member and truly get an appreciation for each of their passions for the VNAHG so I can better tap into their knowledge and experience to further the organizations relationship with them. This individual has an IT background, but later in life went back to law school for a master’s degree in Science in Jurisprudence in Health Law!. Fascinating! We have an amazing board that spans the spectrum of experience from hospital executives, lawyers, IT specialists and consultants like R, and obviously a host of doctors, nurses, pastors and a few university officials as well as local community volunteers.
The organization is very lucky to have each of them, for sure, and I plan on spending individual time with each of them over the coming months. Wish me luck, as I got one in this week (but two last week!).
Then, I had a relaxing lunch with a good friend from Wall Street, who took the boat down from NYC to come and see me and my new surroundings. He shared with me how happy he was to see so many happy people givenhe met a few people in the building before he got to me. From our reception area greeter Doris (who has been with the VNA for? ..... let’s just say a very long time, she is our most tenured employee, in fact,) to the folks on my floor as well. He noted that it was just nice to see smiling faces and he tooknote that everyone seemed to enjoy where they were. We took a walk outside to look at the "100 year of Caring" banner on the side of the building, and then over to the river so George could see down the Navesink River and the absolute beauty of our Two Rivers area. It was 55 degrees outside at 1pm, so for 1/6/12 it was a beautiful walk.
George and I spent the time talking about people, how important it was to be happy, and how important it was for leaders to understand and deliver on their responsibilities (he's a leader, too, and he, like everyone, has his challenges in his business). I had a juice ! and hehad a turkey sandwich. It was great to see George, and he expressed how much NY missed me, as kind as he is. I told him I did miss New York, but I was too busy in New Jersey to have time to think about it.
Then, it was planned that we would go over a local Kitchen in Red Bank but we cancelled that meeting until next week, so that the right people would be able to get together and see how we can connect the served population of the Red Bank Community Health Center with Kitchen and its mission.
So, then, naturally, I met with our CFO to go over the numbers and the status of our documentation update. We know much better where our challenges lie, and we are well on our way to tackling this issue and putting it behind us.
I had some more juice, made some calls, and asked a few people why they were still here at 5:15pm on a Friday night? In New York, Iwould encourage and make sure everyone knew that you needed tohydrate, but I had a juice bottle in my hand so I didn't.
So that was this week, and that doesn't include last week or the weekbefore, and the Asbury Park Community Health Center, the High SchoolSPOT in Asbury we administer, the Bodman Hospice office, meeting withour lobbyist, our compliance team, our business development team, ourfoundation team, a few board members, AND my first home care visit witha nurse EVER in my life! etc etc etc---oh , and of course, writing of a few notes!
Good news for the employees my first note to say hello to them was much shorter than this, and it seems to have been well received! Too much more, so can’t do this every week allie!
All in all, I am truly enjoying my experience and take myresponsibility very seriously, as you can imagine. I know some people would regard what our nurses, home health aides, community program workers working with families, our in-school nurses and social workers and therapy workers do every day as a "job", but having met with a host of them and hearing and seeing from them firsthand the expressionthey have about their work I know that while it might be a job, it is the passion for that job that keeps them coming back. This task is just too hard without that passion.
So, that matches up pretty well with me and my passions. I am having fun, commuting about 12 minutes instead of 90 minutes, and drinking juice and well on my way to healthy 2012. I listened to some of your songs that you recently listened to on Spotify while typing(Carrie Underwood) this note, so Spotify and Facebook continue to invade and pervade our connectivity. That was cool!
Okay, so it is Saturday morning, and I've got lots to do before mynap! Have a great day and I'll talk to you when you have time.
GO GIANTS!
Love
Peace
Dad
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/newark_coalition_strives_to_tr.html
I went with a nurse on one (my second) home care visit to just get an even better understanding of what the nurses do and the challenges they have to provide the care they so lovingly give. We went into oneof the housing buildings and met with a patient and most of the time was spent trying to have the patient to better understand the medicine regimen he was on. The nurse bought (yes, bought, not brought) the patient a pillbox because she was hoping that would help the patient and his wife keep track of the medicines taken (or mostly not taken). This patient was a diabetic, so high risk, and his ability to understand was reasonable, but then he forgets when thenurse isn't there. Let's just say this; each encounter is meaningful,and each situation is unique.
Then I went with our head nurse to visit with Monsignor Linder. We had a great meeting with this interesting and incredible man, who has been spearheading the caring in Newark for over 40 years. We talked senior housing, health care delivery methods, community development (got a book he recommended by Illich called "Deschooling Society, as Illich was a mentor to Msgr.), and we talked about Bill and Hillary Clinton as the Msgr. joined President Clinton as part of his party to go to Northern Ireland in the 90s to bring that whole part of Ireland together. Amazing stuff, and then we talked some politics, as the Msgr has seen his fair share of it in Newark and this world. Me? I took notes. And I noted all the pictures and framed docs on the walls adorning his sitting room. Amazing.
OH! I forgot, I went into the Red Bank office first, and I walked into the first day of our 100 year celebration! There were balloons and car decals and our marketing team greeted everyone with a bigsmile and welcome update on our Centennial year celebration!. I put aVNA sticker on the car for good luck! I recorded and also sent a message to all employees welcoming them to our 100th year. Allie, we are going to celebrate the 100th anniversary at Ellis Island at a dinner Gala on Saturday, 6/23rd, and there are like 100+ volunteers already working on making this night happen. It is very important for the VNAHG to have a successful night as this is a key fundraiser in 2012 for the many programs we deliver to the community. Hopefully we will be able to tap into the generous and fortunate members of our community and the many communities statewide that are served by the VNA and make this a special night, but also a runway for some key funding.
That was Tuesday.
On Wednesday I went to Hainesport, NJ, which is out by Cherry Hill on I295, which allowed me a good 1 1/2 hours in the car to listen to my Frank Delaney book. I had breakfast with the gentleman who had just retired from managing our call center, and he had such an interesting background and enjoyable work experience in his career from Minnesota to California to New Jersey, where he came because he was doing so much work with Campbell Soup. Hainesport is where we have our Burlington and Gloucester county VNA (formerly VNHS) and also where we have our statewide call center----all the calls go there and I sat w a call manager named Rose and listened in on a few calls--- 700+ calls a day!etc etc -- /PS. Rose couldn't tell me enough how much she loves her job and the great camaraderie she and her teammates have in the call center.
I started that day in the team hospice meeting, and the team of nurses, therapists, music therapist, Reiki therapy, pet therapy and pastoral care were in the room with the two doctors who oversee the orders for care for the patients- I stayed for an hour but they werethere all day reviewing each patient and the progress/needs plan. Then I met the schedulers, whose job it is to plan the nurses and hospiceworkers schedule of home care visits (and home health aides and therapy people too)----lots to manage!
Then I saw the people who manage the Early Intervention Program--what's that? Well, the VNA has two counties (Burlington and Monmouth) where we are the care coordinators for EIP, which is for children 0-3yrs old who have some developmental disability to ensure they are receiving all the options and care/help the social services can provide them. Each case manager deals with approx 100 children and families, and what I found very interesting about this segment was that, in most cases, the nurses and caregivers here are part of aprocess where a child is making progress and improving due to our care/help in 90% of the cases. So they find it very rewarding to be with patients that are progressing (not to say all the others don't, but obviously in hospice this isn't the case, for one). THEN, we met with the home care and the grants manager. We apply for funding and receive support/grants to fund the community programs we administer (like Early Intervention), and we have very good relationships with a host of the county and state teams that are working with those programs. The home care for the region is similarto the rest of the state, but each geographic area has its unique population and demographics, of course, and each patient is connected with a nurse who provides the prescribed care in an incredible way.
And that was Wednesday from 9am-1pm!!!!
Then we came back to Red Bank to discuss some Medicare paperwork processing issues. All healthcare organizations deal with an immense amount of documentation that is both regulated and burdensome, but certainly some subset of it is absolutely necessary. So a great nurse is one who can provide the best care to patients with compassion, AND be technologically proficient to manage the documentation required both for providing that care and also for the organization to be properly reimbursed. It is, from what I see, an almost overwhelming burden on top of our main priority, which is of course caring for patients and responding to every request the VNA receives to provide care wherever needed, whenever called, regardless of circumstance, and give the best care possible. We changed a few things in that meeting to try to lighten the burden, so we'll see how that goes.
Well, then it was Thursday and I was in the office all day. I first met with my executive admininstrator to ensure I knew this person's role and tasks completely and also go over schedules and responsibilities.
Then I met with our human resources team to discuss our workforce at large and then specifically. We have four unions that we work within some subsets of the organization, and the HR team coordinates that relationship in addition to all the other standard interaction with employees. With nearly 1700 full and part-time employees, the HR team also deals with any and all problems that arise within the team including recruitment, training, and probably anything else one can think of. And guess what, employee orientation is on the first Monday of the month, so as a new employee I'll be joining the other 21 new employees in the last month for Employee Orientation. It lasts all day and the entire orientation team takes incredible pride in ensuring that the legacy of this 100 year old organization is shared with every new employee, so that the new employees start off on the right foot and know that each and every effort by every employee is important to the overall success of the organization. This business is encumbered by a planned reduction in revenue for the same service EVERY year. Every employee needs to know that it will take the entire team to succeed with annual Medicare cuts of 2-4%and cost increases of course due to salaries and other naturally rising costs of the business like rents and supplies. So each employee's dedication is essential, from the less than 10-20 people whojust started in December (that's me, for one) to the nearly 100 employees who have been with the organization for over 20 years of dedicated service.
We actually had two 20 year anniversaries yesterday, 1/6/12, and I thought it was nice thing to do to send them a note to congratulate them on their tenure and dedication, so I did.
I'm not Mrs. Christopher (my CEO predecessor), obviously, as I am very different with a different background and experience. I know shewas incredibly dedicated 24/7 for 29 years to the organization, so those aren't shoes one can fill. So, I'm just being me and assessing what I think are the important issues that I think the CEO should be dealing with, and I think I have the key 2 or 3 for the next month for sure. Away from that, I am focused on meeting every employee I can and learning as much as possible about what we do, how we do it, and how I can help support that effort as a leader.
Where was I? Thursday, noon, quick meeting with the CEO search committee via conference call to ensure all the committee members confirmed their calendars and availability for our planned meetings in February as we determine the next full-time leader of the VNAHG.
Then I met with one of those 20+ year veterans and the leader of allof our Community and Grants programs for the entire organization.T has been with the organization for many years, and has had a hand in almost every program and she started our Hospice VNA a very long time ago. I received further education on the variety of programs we have,including our Mobile Outreach Program (40 sites in NJ now), SeniorWellness, Global Options (case management to keep seniors in their homes) and TeleHealth (technology continues to positively impact ourdelivery of healthcare). Frankly, the meeting was way too short and I really looking forward to learning so much more from this gifted and giving individual. But, she had to go to a meeting with over 20 community program leaders from other organizations to further our efforts regardinga particular program that was available for grant.
And I had a meeting, too! My first meeting with all the Clinical Managers, the nurse and therapy team leaders. Of course everything is organized by teams and geography but this was the entire leadership team for our nurses and they are responsible for knowing almost everything about their team, the patients cared for, the workload and how the management of that is going. Remember, we never say no. No matter what time of day or night, holiday or Christmas! There are so many stories of our nurses (or their manager) getting a call and needed to get somewhere in a blizzard (like in Late October, 2011) with the help of our maintenance team driving them. Those nurses respond to the call at midnight that the IV fell out and needs to be reinserted and can someone come NOW? OF course, someone being one of our nurses goes and does that. Anyway, I watched and listened as every team reviewed their weekly and monthly census numbers including both the case outcomes and the business aspect of these cases (documentation counts, as I said earlier). Well, I enjoyed seeing the team engagement as the managers discussed some of the current challenges inthe field including patient outcomes and some technique improvements thatshowed progress in either process or management of their teams.
Okay, Thursday was also the day I started my juice cleanse that you guys gave me for Christmas, and I felt fine all day drinking 6 different juices in my effortto kick start a healthy 2012.
Friday! Last day of the week! I've slept well all week, and in addition I've eaten well or not at all and have had no drink other than water or juice. Quite a different week than my average 2011!Friday was another meeting day.
Had another meeting on documentation and our need to improve a fewprocesses. Sounds a bit petty, probably, for a CEO to be talking documentation? Well, without documents, we do not get reimbursed. Without reimbursement, we put our mission at risk. As nice and friendly as the state and federal government are, and even though weare a non-profit competing in a world with a host of for-profit homehealth care and hospice businesses, no one is going to come running to our rescue should we not manage our processes and deal with the challenges the regulatory framework requires. But Tom, don't other organizations have that same challenge? Yes, they do, except a host of those organizations can choose to use the word NO in response to there quest for care. If it isn't convenient, NO. If it isn't profitable, NO. If it is too hard to get to, too expensive, too burdensome today, NO. Not that they start with NO, and I'm sure our competitors do good work and in no way am I derogating their efforts. We CAN choose to use the word NO, as well; I'm just saying we DON'T. We DO NOT use the word NO. We use YES. YES in a blizzard, YES at midnight, YES if it is specialized care, YES if it is a simple visit, YES if you can pay, YES if you have insurance, YES if you can't pay. I know all the people at the VNAHG have an incredible respect for this, our mission, and part of our mission is to ensure the future of the care we provide, for many years to come. 100 years have passed successfully in that mission on 6/24/2012 (yes, it started 6/24/1912),and I join with this VNAHG team to ensure that ongoing mission for many, many years to come.
WOW, Allie, I'm almost done, but it's been a good week of learning and growing, which is how I think every week should be, wherever we are.
So, post that meeting I met with our outside counsel, to get his perspective and experience with the organization. He has been working with the VNA since 1990, so he knows well the history and the people and has been intimately involved in many areas over the years. We spent an enjoyable time together and he shared great perspective with me on the overall business of home care, hospice and the state of affairs in the business in general. We also shared some local stories of Belmar, NJ and high school years as we never crossed paths but certainly knew a few of the same people. It takes all kinds of skill and talents to effectively run an organization like the VNAHG, and I really respect the legal team (we have one other outside counsel as well), the accounting team, the technology team, and the host of other support services required to navigate the choppy waters of this business environment. All the while, paramount in our minds is patient care and the delivery of that care where it is needed.
Then I had a meeting with one of our board members. I'm trying to spend time with each board member and truly get an appreciation for each of their passions for the VNAHG so I can better tap into their knowledge and experience to further the organizations relationship with them. This individual has an IT background, but later in life went back to law school for a master’s degree in Science in Jurisprudence in Health Law!. Fascinating! We have an amazing board that spans the spectrum of experience from hospital executives, lawyers, IT specialists and consultants like R, and obviously a host of doctors, nurses, pastors and a few university officials as well as local community volunteers.
The organization is very lucky to have each of them, for sure, and I plan on spending individual time with each of them over the coming months. Wish me luck, as I got one in this week (but two last week!).
Then, I had a relaxing lunch with a good friend from Wall Street, who took the boat down from NYC to come and see me and my new surroundings. He shared with me how happy he was to see so many happy people givenhe met a few people in the building before he got to me. From our reception area greeter Doris (who has been with the VNA for? ..... let’s just say a very long time, she is our most tenured employee, in fact,) to the folks on my floor as well. He noted that it was just nice to see smiling faces and he tooknote that everyone seemed to enjoy where they were. We took a walk outside to look at the "100 year of Caring" banner on the side of the building, and then over to the river so George could see down the Navesink River and the absolute beauty of our Two Rivers area. It was 55 degrees outside at 1pm, so for 1/6/12 it was a beautiful walk.
George and I spent the time talking about people, how important it was to be happy, and how important it was for leaders to understand and deliver on their responsibilities (he's a leader, too, and he, like everyone, has his challenges in his business). I had a juice ! and hehad a turkey sandwich. It was great to see George, and he expressed how much NY missed me, as kind as he is. I told him I did miss New York, but I was too busy in New Jersey to have time to think about it.
Then, it was planned that we would go over a local Kitchen in Red Bank but we cancelled that meeting until next week, so that the right people would be able to get together and see how we can connect the served population of the Red Bank Community Health Center with Kitchen and its mission.
So, then, naturally, I met with our CFO to go over the numbers and the status of our documentation update. We know much better where our challenges lie, and we are well on our way to tackling this issue and putting it behind us.
I had some more juice, made some calls, and asked a few people why they were still here at 5:15pm on a Friday night? In New York, Iwould encourage and make sure everyone knew that you needed tohydrate, but I had a juice bottle in my hand so I didn't.
So that was this week, and that doesn't include last week or the weekbefore, and the Asbury Park Community Health Center, the High SchoolSPOT in Asbury we administer, the Bodman Hospice office, meeting withour lobbyist, our compliance team, our business development team, ourfoundation team, a few board members, AND my first home care visit witha nurse EVER in my life! etc etc etc---oh , and of course, writing of a few notes!
Good news for the employees my first note to say hello to them was much shorter than this, and it seems to have been well received! Too much more, so can’t do this every week allie!
All in all, I am truly enjoying my experience and take myresponsibility very seriously, as you can imagine. I know some people would regard what our nurses, home health aides, community program workers working with families, our in-school nurses and social workers and therapy workers do every day as a "job", but having met with a host of them and hearing and seeing from them firsthand the expressionthey have about their work I know that while it might be a job, it is the passion for that job that keeps them coming back. This task is just too hard without that passion.
So, that matches up pretty well with me and my passions. I am having fun, commuting about 12 minutes instead of 90 minutes, and drinking juice and well on my way to healthy 2012. I listened to some of your songs that you recently listened to on Spotify while typing(Carrie Underwood) this note, so Spotify and Facebook continue to invade and pervade our connectivity. That was cool!
Okay, so it is Saturday morning, and I've got lots to do before mynap! Have a great day and I'll talk to you when you have time.
GO GIANTS!
Love
Peace
Dad
