VNA & Hospice Designated Vermont’s First Home Health Gold Star Employer

 

The Vermont Assembly of Home Health Agencies (VAHHA) named the Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice of Southwestern Vermont Health Care the first Gold Star Employer home health agency in Vermont.

The Gold Star Program recognizes home health agencies that employ best practices for recruiting and retaining caregivers, particularly direct care staff, according to Peter Cobb, VAHHA director. “Research in Vermont and elsewhere has shown that best practices that lead to successful recruitment and retention rates contribute to improved quality of care for clients and employee satisfaction.” Cobb said.

“I congratulate and thank everyone in our agency who worked so hard to make our team project so successful that we earned Gold Star status,” said Julia H. Maroney, RN, MHSA, CHCE, executive director of VNA & Hospice.

VNA & Hospice earned Vermont’s first Gold Star Award for home health after a yearlong process. To qualify for a Gold Star, the agency created and executed an action plan to improve operations in one of seven best practice areas. VNA’s project was in the area of team approaches.

“Our project for our first annual Gold Star program was to invite direct care staff to participate in their patients’ care planning process,” said Shannon M. Tatro, RN, quality and education coordinator at VNA. “The team concept not only helped us achieve our goal, but it also surprisingly improved staff communication and built camaraderie.”

As a result of the VNA’s Gold Star project, direct care staff reported a nearly 14 percent increase in feeling valued by the agency, compared to when the project began, said Anne Hill, director of human resources and the Gold Star project leader. The licensed nursing assistants and patient care attendants also reported a substantial increase in their interest in being part of the care planning team.

Patients benefited, too, Maroney said, because their satisfaction with home health aid services improved. Press Ganey Associates, a national leader in satisfaction monitoring, measures patient satisfaction for VNA & Hospice.

Tatro said, “It is rewarding to be part of an agency that truly cares about its patients and the employees who serve clients.”

VNA & Hospice is part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, whose president and CEO is Harvey M. Yorke.

“This award is about great workplaces that breed professionalism and job satisfaction,” Yorke said. “It is about achieving positive organizational results, and it was made possible by the VNA employees’ willingness to embrace the hard work it takes to make improvements that benefit the people we serve.” 

A committee composed of representatives from several Vermont home health agencies, as well as representatives of VAHHA and the Better Care Better Jobs project at the Community of Vermont Elders developed the Gold Star Program. The Vermont Nursing Home Gold Star Employer Program served as a model for the VAHHA Gold Star Program.

VNA & Hospice will enroll in the Gold Star program for a second year, with another project that focuses on team involvement and team management of patients’ needs, Maroney said.

A not-for-profit organization, VNA & Hospice of Southwestern Vermont Health Care makes more than 30,000 home visits each year to residents of Bennington, North Bennington, Pownal, Shaftsbury, and Woodford. In addition to offering home nursing, high-tech care, and rehabilitative therapy, among other services, the agency houses Bennington's only full-service, Medicare-certified hospice program.