VNA Annual Report: A Message From the Chairman and CEO

Dear Friends:

This annual report marks the 25th year of the Vineyard Nursing Association’s service to the Martha’s Vineyard community. As we look back over this past year and our entire history, we are very proud of our efforts and our accomplishments in providing an array of health related services to our neighbors.

As most of you know, 2008 was arguably the most difficult and trying year since our beginning in 1984. With the introduction of a new Private Care premium service and the unexpected closing of the Visiting Nurse Service, the only other home care agency on the island, we had to adjust and greatly modify our plans to ensure we could meet the needs of the community that suddenly was our total responsibility.

Without hesitation we agreed to take on the home care responsibilities for all of VNS’ patients. We also absorbed most of their staff in order to guarantee we had sufficient resources to get the job done. Unfortunately, the dramatic increase in staff and patients swamped our internal processes and made our existing facility totally inadequate. To solve our problems, we invested in additional computer hardware, updated our software, invested in a new digital phone system, and renovated and relocated to new offices. At the same time, we stepped up our training programs to ensure that all our new staff could perform at the high standards of the VNA. We accomplished all of this while maintaining our high level of home care quality and with the generous aid of the community also met the financial needs of the organization. Now we are looking forward to a very exciting time for the VNA. We are planning to launch a new Hospice program that will allow our patients to access all their insurance end of life benefits which up until now has not been possible.

We have the opportunity to obtain a permanent home for the VNA by purchasing the building at our current location. This investment will provide a strong stable base for our operations for decades to come. We look forward to initiating a fundraising campaign to raise the money for a down payment with the VNA funding the on going costs of a mortgage and maintenance for the building.

We certainly want to express our gratitude to all of you who generously contributed to the success of the VNA in 2008. To the Board of Directors, we thank you for your guidance, support and time. To the talented staff, we respect and value your enthusiasm and commitment to the work of the Agency. To the community at large, we thank you for your ongoing financial support.

We look forward to the next twenty five years of service as we continue to expand our services to meet the changing needs of our neighbors.

Best wishes,

Michael Goldsmith                       Robert Tonti
Chairman                                    CEO

Click the pdf link below to download our Annual Report

VNA_AR08.pdf