History
In 1901, the seeds for VNS Westchester were planted by Dr. William Hazard Sherman, a prominent physician, who rallied local women to start a nursing service to care for patients discharged from St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers. In 1921, the service was renamed the Yonkers Visiting Nurse Association.
Before long, other visiting nurse services emerged to serve Westchester communities. In 1936 four official and 16 volunteer nursing agencies came together for mutual support through the Westchester Nursing Council, while they continued to operate as individual entities. By the 1960s, federal and state laws established new standards for agencies, and Medicare legislation required certification and licensing of nursing services. To meet these new requirements, several voluntary nursing agencies decided to consolidate into one freestanding nursing service. In 1969, these organizations joined forces to form Associated Visiting Nurse Services, Inc. which continued to grow as more volunteer groups became members.
In 1980, with the addition of several more agencies, the members voted to change the name from Associated Visiting Nurse Services to Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester, Inc. (VNSW) In 1984, we moved to 360 Mamaroneck Ave. in Whiite Plains. In 1990, our affiliate, Westchester Care at Home, became licensed as a home care agency, providing home health aides and personal care services to the community. In 2011, VNSW was licensed to expand its services in Putnam County through a new branch office in Brewster, NY. In fall 2012, we were granted a license by the State of New York to expand our services to residents of the Bronx, Dutchess, and Rockland counties. In a nod to our century-plus history headquartered in Westchester, our agency name was changed in 2013 to VNS Westchester. Our new agency brand message, “Bring the best care home,” underscores our dedication to providing the highest quality, compassionate home healthcare to residents located throughout all of the counties we serve.
In 2016, the agency formed the VNSW Foundation, Inc. a not-for-profit organization that supports the programs and services of VNS Westchester through resource development activities.
In 2019, we relocated our branch office in Putnam County to a new location in Hopewell Junction in Dutchess County. This change was made to address the growth of patient admissions in Dutchess. In September 2020, Westchester Care at Home changed its name to VNSW at Home to reinforce the relationship between the agencies and to leverage complementary resources to better serve our communities. In October 2020, the VNSW family of agencies moved to a new headquarters located at 1311 Mamaroneck Ave. in White Plains. The new location accommodates the evolving needs of our staff and our community as demands for our home health care services continue to grow. It also, for the first time, brings together in one contiguous space, all of our agencies: VNS Westchester, the VNSW Foundation and VNSW at Home.
Today, VNS Westchester and our affiliate agencies serve over 10,000 patients in the five counties we serve. We continue to enhance and develop new programs and services to address the changing needs of our communities.
