Vermont’s health care oversight authority, the Green Mountain Care Board, has cleared the way for the Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) in Bennington to transfer its operations to the Rutland Area Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice (RAVNAH). The new, larger entity will improve care coordination, expand services across Bennington County, and prepare the area for health care reform. The two organizations will move swiftly to begin combining operations, which will take effectOctober 1.
“We are excited that the Green Mountain Care Board approved the application to transfer the service of SVHC’s VNA and Hospice to the Rutland Area Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice,” said Thomas Dee, president and CEO of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, the parent organization of the SVHC VNA and Hospice. “The transfer to RAVNAH will enhance care coordination for home health patients across a larger geographic area and bring additional services to patients in our communities.”
OnOctober 1, SVHC’s VNA and Hospice will become a wholly owned part of RAVNAH. Employees of SVHC’s VNA and Hospice will become employees of RAVNAH. As part of the agreement, RAVNAH has committed to maintaining SVHC’s existing home care and hospice services.
RAVNAH CEO Ron Cioffi said that his agency intends to offer SVHC employees similar jobs. “We value the expertise, experience, and knowledge that SVHC’s staff and managers will bring to our organization,” Cioffi added. “Both organizations have similar pay and benefit structures, so we expect this transition to go smoothly for employees.”
To ensure better care coordination, the transfer agreement sets up representation for Southwestern Vermont Health Care on the RAVNAH board of directors and establishes a local committee to provide guidance and quality oversight for the Bennington-area services. RAVNAH also plans to ensure that patients can continue to see their familiar caregivers.
“Our goal is to make this transition seamless to SVHC patients,” explained Cioffi. “Patients and their families will continue to have the same staff who care for them now available to care for them afterOctober 1. We also are building systems to ensure that we work closely with the hospital and physicians serving these communities.”
The decision is the culmination of nearly a year of work between the two organizations, kicked off when SVHC began to seek a partner for visiting nurse and hospice services. Dee said that the Bennington-based health system chose the RAVNAH because it was the best fit. “RAVNAH has a record of being a high quality provider,” Dee added. “They are known throughout the state, understand our region, and have strong existing relationships that will benefit our patients.”
Cioffi added that the two organizations already have a history of collaboration, and that they share the goals of “reducing the cost of care, improving the collaboration and coordination of home care, and ensuring high-quality home health care remains available in the Bennington area.”
Cioffi also said that his organization expects to add services including private duty nursing, community wellness, and specialty nursing, such as wound and ostomy care and psychiatric nursing.
Both organizations provide high quality care, as measured by national and state quality standards, such as the Medicare Home Health Compare. In addition, for six of the past seven years, RAVNAH has been named a Home Care Elite agency, a recognition that demonstrates its commitment to quality and patient centered care.
RAVNAH 7.15.2014
About RAVNAH:
Rutland Area Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice (RAVNAH) is a non-profit, Medicare certified home health agency that provides a wide range of health care services to people of all ages who need home and community health services. RAVNAH is the lead agency in the Southwestern Vermont Hospice Network and the implementing agency of the Nurse Family Partnership serving Rutland and Bennington counties.
About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is an integrated health system serving Bennington and Windham Counties in Vermont and nearby communities in New York and Massachusetts. SVHC consists of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, the VNA & Hospice of SVHC, the SVHC Foundation, and the SVMC Northshire and Deerfield Valley campuses. It also includes Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Physicians, a multispecialty medical group operated in partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock.