Featured in the Putnam Courier – June 19, 2014

By Eric Gross

A group of highly trained, compassionate and caring professionals are on call 24 hours a day seven days a week to assist residents of Putnam County in need of home health assistance. Last week, members of the Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester-Putnam were heralded as heroes by members of the Putnam Legislature during its Health Committee meeting. Mary McGuigan of Mahopac attended the session with nurse Kristin McGowan and the manager of the Visiting Nurse’s Putnam Office, Loretta Molinari.

McGuigan told Legislators Sam Oliverio, Barbara Scuccimarra and Dini LoBue, who comprise the panel, along with Legislators Ginny Nacerino, Joseph Castellano, Lou Tartaro and chairman Carl Albano, who were also in attendance, had it not been for the expert care received by her husband from the organization “Bob would not be here today.”

Robert McGuigan senior suffered a severe burn last year during a freak accident. He underwent triple by-pass surgery and developed multiple infections in incisions while hospitalized. “When Bob came home from the hospital, nurse Kristin and her colleagues were here to assist like no one did at the medical center. She cleansed his wounds and treated the burns—seven days a week for more than six months. The angels saved my Bob’s life! Kristin became part of our family!”

McGowan called her work an “honor. I care greatly about Mr. McGuigan and his entire family. It’s a privilege to be in one’s home because you are in their environment.”McGowan who has served as a visiting nurse for the past five years said she originally was employed in a hospital setting: “I became disappointed because I wasn’t able to spend enough time with my patients and to be there for them when I was needed. My experience as a visiting nurse has been a dream come true—holding your patient’s hand, getting to know them very well while assisting with their medical needs.”

Molinari said in addition to being compassionate, “visiting nurses are tremendously skilled. They understand what they are doing and are extremely well educated and trained. Work performed by visiting nurses is complicated and complex.”Molinari also called visiting nurses “courageous. When you knock on a patient’s door you never know what is on the other side. In a hospital, a nurse is in a secure environment. Entering a private residence is a different situation.”

Visiting nurses were originally part of the Putnam Health Department but several years ago the county disbanded the service turning the roll over to the private agency. Oliverio said the decision was the “right one since residents of our county continue to receive A-plus service at no cost to county taxpayers.”

Those in need of services or residents requesting information about Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester-Putnam are asked to call Molinari at the group’s Brewster office at 845-278-2550.