Visiting Nurses now offering free health clinics

Visiting Nurse Association

Video

The Visiting Nurse Association of the Greater Youngstown Area has been around for 105 years.

The Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Youngstown marks 105 years of caring by offering new free clinics

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

Free health clinics are the newest way that the Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Youngstown is serving its clients as the organization celebrates its 105th year in the city.

The clinics, from 9 a.m. to noon on the third Tuesday of each month, feature a different type of health care each month to go along with the usual things, such as blood pressure screening and medication checks, said Suzanne Tucci, VNA executive director

On Tuesday, Youngstown Hearing and Speech Center conducted hearing assessments, said Tucci, who began as a nurse at VNA 20 years ago.

Tucci, who was an oncology nurse at St. Elizabeth Hospital before coming to VNA, said there is little staff turnover at VNA because the nurses are caring, compassionate people who love what they do.

“I think that says a lot for the agency and the type of work. You have to like home care. You are a guest in a patient’s home,” she said.

One of VNA’s major medical goals is continuity of care, and the low staff turnover helps with that, Tucci said.

“We try to keep the same nurse with the same patients,” she said.

“Our nurses must have good skills and be able to work on their own. They do things such as wound care, intravenous therapy and catheter care, all under the orders of a doctor,” she said.

The nurses are the eyes and ears of the patient’s doctor, Tucci said.

“There is great satisfaction when a patient gets better. But, sometimes they don’t get better. We don’t have a hospice here, but we see them through that too,” Tucci said.

What the patients get through VNA are being cared for in the comfort of their own homes, she said.

“We look for ways for them to stay in their homes and help them find other community resources” to make that happen, she said.

People can access care through VNA by referrals from doctors, social workers, hospital and nursing homes. But, Tucci said, they can just call and VNA will contact their doctors for them.

VNA of Greater Youngstown’s service area is all Mahoning County and the Trumbull County communities of Girard, Hubbard, McDonald and Mineral Ridge.

VNA has 10 nurses, one of whom sees clients diagnosed with psychological disorders such as depression; three home health aids, and a social worker among its staff of 32. The nurses are all registered nurses, Tucci said.

The nonprofit organization has a 2009 budget of about $2 million. Funding sources include Medicare, Medicare HMOs, private insurance, Medicaid, Youngstown/Mahoning Valley United Way, donations, and grants this year through the Area Agency on Aging and the Youngstown Community Development Block Grant.

VNA has been in its building at 518 E. Indianola Ave. for 50 years.

“We feel we want to stay in the city in the middle of our service area,” Tucci said, and continue to serve the community and follow our mission, which is to “deliver the highest quality of health care service enabling individuals to achieve their optimum level of well-being.”

alcorn@vindy.com

1915: VNA opened infant welfare stations in the city to check babies’ health and distribute formula. The infant welfare stations were continued through the years as child health clinics and lasted until 1978.

1919: The Community Corporation, the forerunner of United Way, came into being. VNA ask for and received $6,203.

1920:The influenza epidemic was at its height, each board member contributed one gallon of soup per week to help feed the sick, and VNA nurses were recruited by the newly-created Mahoning County Board of Health to help care for the sick.

1920: Metropolitan Life Insurance instituted a program for its policy holders which paid 25 cents for every nurse’s home visit, an amount later increased to 50 cents. At the time, it cost the agency 751‚Ñ2 cents for each nurses’s visit.

1966: VNA was certified as a home health agency enabling it to care for patients under the newly-created Medicare program.

1986: VNA began accepting clients who require maintenance of intravenous equipment to deliver medications.

1989: The increased number of technical cases necessitated hiring a hi-tech supervisor.

1993: VNA underwent its initial survey by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and received an accreditation with commendation.

Source: Visiting Nurse Association