STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – When 85-year-old Claire Haspel was hospitalized with COVID-19, all she could think about was getting home to her husband Fred and seeing the rest of her family.
She got her wish.
After spending a week in isolation at Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC ) in West Brighton, she was discharged to continue her recovery at home. “I felt like the luckiest person -- to be able to walk out of RUMC -- and me at 85-years-old,” she said.
But that was just the beginning.
When she got home to Grant City – to the same house where she was born and raised – she found the team at RUMC had passed the baton for her care to the capable hands of the Visiting Nurse Association of Staten Island (VNASI) -- the not-for-profit agency that has been providing in-home health care exclusively for borough residents for more than a century.
A registered nurse (R.N.) from VNASI visited Haspel to check and monitor her vitals -- blood pressure, temperature, blood oxygen level and breathing; to make sure she’s be eating right, and to arrange for physical and occupational therapy as needed, to help her get back on her feet and make sure her recovery went smoothly. Her family was also kept apprised of her care and recovery.
“I can’t say enough about these nurses, this wonderful service,” Haspel said of VNASI. “When I came home from the hospital, I was still very weak and tired. I had no appetite, but they were so patient and professional. They listened to me. I’m feeling more like myself every day,” she said.
Over the last few months VNASI staff has played a key role in RUMC’s efforts to treat and discharge coronavirus patients, according to hospital administration.
“VNASI has served an essential role in our COVID-19 efforts at RUMC,” said RUMC President and CEO Daniel Messina. “VNASI’s work and support allowed RUMC to create a very aggressive surge plan, leading to enhanced capacity, by optimizing through the pandemic,” he said.
‘PART OF THE FAMILY’
“Our staff stands ready to serve RUMC patients with COVID-19 aftercare and treatment,” said VNASI President Hope Illicato, R.N. “We are the home care agency, the bridge between hospital care and continued recovery in the familiarity of the patient’s own home.”
“A home health nurse quickly becomes part of the family,” said Marybeth Kenney, R.N., director of professional services for VNASI, who has more than 30 years of experience in home health care. She said the agency is currently serving more than 50 patients recovering from COVID-19. “The beauty of this program is that our talented team of nurses are able to treat people at home, and keep them out of the hospital setting while they recover,” she said.
Lisa Mandell of Huguenot, an R.N. who has been a field nurse with VNASI for 34 years, said she’s been seeing an average of five to seven patients a day, two to three times a week since the height of the coronavirus crisis, but said the numbers have been dropping as fewer patients have been hospitalized and released.
“It was initially rough, but Staten Islanders are lucky because many of our patients have support from family members,” she said. She said the agency works to educate family members about patient care as well.
All of the nurses who make home visits wear personal protective equipment (PPE), including gowns, booties, gloves, masks and face shields. “We go in feeling a little like the Pillsbury Dough Boy,” Mandell said, smiling. “We’re covered from head to toe.”
Illicato said the agency is appreciative of support it’s received from elected officials and community-based organizations who have seen to it that the nursing staff has the proper protective equipment. “Our elected officials have been very supportive in seeing we have all that we need to safely and successfully go out to treat patients,” she said.
In addition to, and in between home visits, nurses make use of tele-health options, including virtual visits. “We also use technology to screen patients and to see what treatment options might work best for individual patients,” said Krystal Castelle, R.N., who coordinates tele-health visits and options for patients.
LONG HISTORY OF SERVICE
The VNASI has a history of serving the home health needs of borough residents that dates back more than a century before the current COVID-19 pandemic .
The agency was founded in 1917, as an outpost of the Henry Street Settlement House on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Its purpose was to provide health care to underprivileged children and their families who lived on Staten Island, who were not being served. Its nurses also helped borough patients recover from the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.
Although the agency is sometimes confused with other certified in-home health-care agencies with similar names, Illicato stressed that VNASI is unique to the Island. “We are Staten Island-based, we serve all of Staten Island, and the majority of our staff live and work here and know the community. Our sole focus is on serving this borough. Our mission is the health and well-being of Staten Islanders,” she said.
In addition to treating adults, VNASI provides early intervention and assessment for children with developmental delays and disabilities from birth to three years old.
The VNASI headquarters are at 400 Lake Ave., Mariners Harbor. For more information about the agency and its services, or how to receive services, call 718-816-3500, or access the VNASI website at www.vnasi.org.