(Photo, l to r): Honorees Chris and Dave Gaur; Nancy Rudolph; and Carolyn Rogers; Westchester County Executive, George Latimer; VNSW Foundation Board Chair, Dr. Amy Ansehl; and Westchester Visiting Nurse Services Group, Inc. President & CEO, Timothy P. Leddy.

Close to 200 supporters turned out to the VNSW Foundation’s May 16 Gala at Willow Ridge Country Club in Harrison, where organizers honored a dedicated Board Member, a long-time volunteer and a digital healthcare provider that have helped Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester (VNSW) maintain its high standard of home healthcare and community services, while propelling it forward during a time of transformational change in the industry.

The event raised approximately $100,000 to help support VNSW’s mission of promoting the health and sustaining the independence of a growing number of elderly and other vulnerable populations, while it navigates the shifting healthcare landscape and declining government reimbursements for homecare services.

In her welcome remarks, VNSW Foundation Board Chair, Dr. Amy Ansehl, thanked supporters for “helping the agency to uphold its commitment to the more than 10,000 patients we serve annually who rely on us for the level and quality of care that they need and deserve.” Proceeds from the Gala, Ansehl said, will help fund new programs, provide home care services for uninsured and underinsured individuals and support its free health education programs for the community.

In honoring Nancy J. Rudolph of White Plains, Carolyn Rogers of Peekskill and Vital Care Services of White Plains, organizers noted that each honoree has played a significant role in advancing VNSW’s mission. Rudolph, retiring after six years as a member and past Treasurer of the agency’s Board, received the Distinguished Service Award for her stewardship of fiscal policies that have helped maintain and expand VNSW’s services.  A Partner at Bleakley, Platt & Schmidt, she has been recognized as a top attorney in the area of trusts and estates. Rogers was recipient of the Outstanding Achievement in Nursing Award for her decades of service at VNSW. A registered nurse for close to 30 years before retiring, Rogers continues to use her experience and skills as a volunteer for the agency’s “Ask the Visiting Nurse” program, providing free health care screenings at community sites. 

Vital Care Services (VCS) received the Community Leadership Award for helping VNSW’s affiliate agency, Westchester Care at Home, improve the health of its elderly clientele through a NYS grant-funded program that is training its home care staff on the use of remote digital health tracking devices in the home. VCS was also cited for elevating community health through the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services’ “Telehealth Intervention Program for Seniors.” Christopher Gaur, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, accepted the award on behalf of Vital Care Services.

Personal Stories Illustrate Agency’s Impact

During the ceremony, the three honorees each spoke of the hard work, dedication and passion of VNSW’s home care team, sharing personal stories illustrating the agency’s impact on the health and well-being of its patients and community residents. Rudolph described how the staff helped care for her mother following a health care crisis, providing tremendous relief to her and her family. Rogers was grateful for the opportunity to help scores of seniors identify and seek treatment for high blood pressure, the “silent killer,” through VNSW’s “Ask the Visiting Nurse” community service program.  Gaur spoke of his satisfaction in empowering Westchester Care at Home’s home health aides with expertise in using digital health monitoring technologies to reduce preventable hospital visits for their home care patients.   

Timothy Leddy, President & CEO of the Westchester Visiting Nurse Services Group, Inc., the parent organization of VNSW, the VNSW Foundation and Westchester Care at Home, shared excerpts from a letter he received from the administrator of a local adult home, praising the “life-saving care” provided by a VNSW nurse for one of its residents struggling with diabetes.  Forming a strong personal bond with the patient, the nurse “even volunteered to go to a doctor’s appointment with the resident during her vacation,” the administrator noted, thanking VNSW for “standing by us every single day.”

About VNS Westchester and the VNSW Foundation, Inc.

Founded in 1901, VNS Westchester (VNSW) is the largest and only independent, not-for-profit, Medicare-certified home healthcare agency in Westchester, also serving residents of the Bronx, Dutchess, Putnam and Rockland counties. The agency provides skilled nursing with case management, rehabilitative services, medical social work and home health aide services for people of all ages, and offers a wide range of specialty care and free community health programs.

The VNSW Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization, was recently established to support the programs and services of VNS Westchester through a wide range of resource development activities in the communities served by the agency.

For more information, call 914-682-1480 or visit www.vns.org. Find VNSW on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VNSWestchester.