Civic Spotlight

Providing the Community with a Century of Care

This page honors local organizations that help the community and its residents improve their lives. Each quarter a new organization will be honored.

This quarter Haverhill Bank honors:
Home Health VNA

Originally founded in 1895 to provide health care to needy mill families living in Lawrence, Methuen and North Andover, the Home Health Foundation is one of the largest home health agencies in Massachusetts. Its service area includes more than 80 cities and towns within the Merrimack Valley, northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Home Health VNA is one of three agencies of the Home Health Foundation. Through programs such a nursing, rehabilitation, intravenous therapy, maternal and child health, mental health and home care aide services, the agency aims to prevent hospitalization and prepare patients for their transition into independence.

The not-for-profit organization provides medical and supportive care to more than 2,500 patients on any given day. On a typical day the average clinician is scheduled to visit five to eight patients, driving 50 to 60 miles––more than 300 miles in a typical week.

Annually, the Home Health VNA nurses travel a total average of 2.8 million miles, which is equal to approximately 112 trips around the earth!

Home Health VNA of Haverhill provides the community with home-based child health services.

“What our clinicians are doing in the field today is a far cry from the services they were providing over a century ago when our organization was established to care for mill families,” said Joan Stygles Hull, president and CEO of the Home Health Foundation. “We strive to bring the most advanced technology into the home, giving our staff an opportunity to provide some very sophisticated medical care.”

The agency provides assistance to a diverse age group. Patients range in age from newborns to senior citizens.

Joanne, a 54 year-old Methuen resident suffering from diabetes, heart disease, blindness and severe nerve damage in her hands and feet was recently under the care of Home Health VNA due to unstable blood pressure and risk of heart failure. Joanne needed assistance to keep a watchful eye on her vital signs while remaining in the comforts of her own home.

Hospice cares provides physical and emotional care to those nearing the end of their lives.

The nurses at Home Health VNA had an immediate solution: a Telehealth monitor—a device the size of a cable box—would be placed in Joanne’s home. The machine records vitals such as weight, heart rate and blood pressure, and even asks a series of customized questions regarding symptoms of a patient. Joanne’s information was monitored and communicated daily to the Home Health VNA main office for a nurse to review.

“Telehealth improves the quality of life of our patients by allowing daily monitoring and management of health conditions at home,” said Telehealth Coordinator, Valerie Sweeney. “Immediate results, whether positive or negative, help to motivate and educate our patients like Joanne to follow their doctor’s orders. If a patient has gained weight, I will ask the patient questions to determine whether the weight gain was caused by fluid buildup, a serious symptom for patients with heart failure, or by deviations from the doctor’s prescribed diet. This gives me the opportunity to educate the patient about the importance of following their diet and suggest better food choices.”

“If it weren’t for Home Health VNA’s ability to monitor my blood pressure daily in my home, I might have had a second heart attack,” said Joanne.

Joanne continues to use the monitoring device. The machine, with the help of visiting nurses, has given Joanne back independence that she lost when losing her sight two years ago.

Emily Raymond is one of many nurses who serve the local community through home health services.

Joanne is only one example of many patients throughout the area who have experienced a better lifestyle because of the care she received from Home Health VNA.

Home Health VNA is one of the few home care agencies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to offer a pediatric oncology program. Each year, nurses provide care to local children who have been diagnosed with cancer.

Over the past few months, Home Health VNA nurses have been visiting Caroline, an eight-year-old girl with bone cancer in her leg. The young girl, first diagnosed in 2006, eventually underwent surgery to have the cancer removed. In order to make certain the cancer was defeated and did not return. Caroline began an eight month program balancing chemotherapy and recovery.

Without the pediatric oncology nurses and therapy provided through Home Health VNA, Caroline would have been forced to spend the full period of time in the hospital.

“Thanks to the nurses, Caroline can have her laboratory work and physical therapy done at home and the nurses can closely monitor Caroline to make sure that she is regaining her strength and staying free from infections. In addition, being at home helps Caroline live a more normal life, like having friends visit and taking occasional outings, including brief visits to her school,” said her mother.

The time and support contributed by Home Health VNA enabled Caroline to successfully complete her chemotherapy and return to the normal life of an eight-year-old child.

“Whether our program nurses are providing routine newborn care to mothers or complex nursing care to very sick children like Caroline, they are committed to the mission of Home Health VNA: to create and deliver innovative and responsive community health programs which provide effective and compassionate care,” said Emily Raymond, maternal and child health manager.

In order to make recovery and home-treatment possible, Home Health VNA continuously relies on the generosity and support of individuals, corporations and foundations to help make its services available to all patients. Donations from supporting local businesses such as Haverhill Bank enable the agency to provide care to patients who cannot afford the cost of care and do not qualify for healthcare.

“Thanks to the dedication and commitment demonstrated by the agency’s staff, many local individuals and families are experiencing a better quality of life. Home Heath VNA is actively making a difference. Haverhill Bank is proud to associate with an organization that reaches out to so many people and truly makes an impact in the community,” said Thomas R. Faulkner, president of Haverhill Bank.

In addition to Home Health VNA, the Home Health Foundation includes HomeCare Inc., a private homecare service provider, and Merrimack Valley Hospice, a provider of comfort care and palliative services to patients facing life-limiting illnesses.

In order to better serve the community, Merrimack Valley Hospice is currently constructing the Merrimack Valley Hospice House. The home will be built on 39 acres in Haverhill, with the intended purpose to offer “the very best care in a home-like setting.” The home will provide patients with 24-hour, compassionate care and offer support to their loved ones. It will include 14 private patient rooms and feature amenities such as a sanctuary, gathering area, outdoor dining area, library, kid’s corner, gardens and a spa and massage room.