Meeting Care Needs in a Post-St. Vincent’s World

Meeting Care Needs in a Post-St. Vincent’s World

Our downtown community has certainly been in a turmoil in the aftermath of the financial collapse and closure of St. Vincent’s Hospital.

In its wake, many of our friends and neighbors here in the Village, and those in surrounding communities, are angry and hurt.  They feel mistreated, ignored and abandoned.

And while the community as a whole tries to figure out how to fill the gaping hole we now have in urgent and acute care downtown, the numerous community care providers are also working to find ways to expand their services to offer a cushion to the community.

In that respect, we are fortunate, especially here in the Village, because we have many compassionate organizations that provide services to those in need, particularly for older adults and for persons living with HIV/AIDS.  The availability of community mission-driven care providers also extends to our nearby neighborhoods, such as Chelsea.

These organizations, which are all not-for-profit entities, offer a wide range of services, including those that are non-medical in nature, but which are often health-related.  They also are excellent gateways for people in need of services because they help with access to care and services.

All of these organizations, of course, are not going to replace the loss of St. Vincent’s Hospital, which is the larger community issue.  These organizations are, however, stepping up to do whatever they can to help with primary care, HIV care and other services and supports.

These organizations have one thing in common.  They are deeply committed to our community and to its needs.

At VillageCare, for example, we’ve been dedicated to meeting the needs of the downtown community ever since our formative years when the not-for-profit Village Nursing Home was created in the mid-1970s.

VillageCare also responded to the AIDS epidemic in the ‘80s with some of the very first programs and services specifically designed to address HIV infection.  

Today, we operate a comprehensive array of HIV and AIDS care and services that includes residential skilled nursing at Rivington House, AIDS day treatment and home care, along with primary care, treatment adherence and substance abuse and mental health programs, among others.

The Momentum Project – which has a 25-year history of offering meals, nutrition services and support for persons living with HIV/AIDS – became part of VillageCare in 2008.

All told, in 2009 alone, our HIV programs helped more than 6,000 individuals.

An equal number of people are served in our programs that care for older adults, which include the nursing home, short-stay rehabilitation, adult day health care, assisted living and primary care.  VillageCare also has array of home care options that both help people recover following rehabilitation therapy and provide wide-ranging care and services that encourage and enable individuals to continue to live at home, even with frailty that in the past would have meant admission to a nursing home.

We’ve been partnering too with other organizations who share in a community mission, for we believe that oftentimes by working together not-for-profits can achieve more than they can on their own.

We’re working hard on ways to expand our home care offerings in this post-St. Vincent’s world, and we are particularly beefing up the VillageCare Health Center that’s at 121A W. 20th St. in Chelsea so that we are able to accommodate those in need of primary care and related services.

The most exciting news for the community, and for us at VillageCare, is that the opening of the long-desired replacement for the aging Village Nursing Home is fast-approaching.

The new VillageCare Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, which is at 214 W. Houston St., is scheduled to open in September.

With skilled nursing care and post-hospital rehabilitation designed to promote healing and better well-being, this new, state-of-the-art facility will speed recovery and help patients return home sooner.

The new Center will concentrate on restorative care for those with a disabling illness or condition, with specially trained therapists and caregivers who are committed to providing a patient-centered, patient-friendly environment.

The staff and physical surroundings of the new facility will help patients focus fully on recovery.

The new Center will be a wonderful asset for our community.

For more than 30 years, VillageCare has had a single mission – to address the many and varied care needs of our community, and to step in and help when new needs arise.

We’re here for you.

And we’re staying here.