CEO Named a Health Care Hero
VNA Care Network & Hospice President and CEO Karen H. Green was recently named a Health Care Hero by a panel of judges in the health care industry for her leadership of the nonprofit home health care, palliative care, hospice, and wellness agency serving Eastern and Central Massachusetts.
The award, part of the Worcester Business Journal's first annual Health Care Heroes Program, honors individuals in the Central Massachusetts and Metrowest areas who have made outstanding contributions to the health care field. One of 16 award winners representing several categories in the field, Green was recognized as a community service leader.
Green's vision and leadership have safeguarded the availability of nonprofit, home- and community-based health care services for some of Massachusetts' most vulnerable residents. She spearheaded three successful mergers during her time as president and CEO of the VNA of Central Massachusetts and now VNA Care Network. In 1998, Green led a merger between the VNA of Central Massachusetts and the Spencer VNA. Just two years later, Green was instrumental in the merger of the VNA of Central Massachusetts and VNA Care Network to form the second largest nonprofit, freestanding VNA in the United States. The Worcester-based VNA Care Network grew again when the Marblehead/Swampscott VNA merged with VNA Care Network in August 2002.
VNA Care Network & Hospice offers more than 70 services for people of all ages living in Eastern and Central Massachusetts. Green encourages her staff to harness technology and find creative solutions to daunting challenges facing the health care industry including the nursing shortage. She worked with employees to create a Nursing Internship and Preceptor Program to bring nontraditional candidates, recent nursing graduates and nurses who have been away from the field, into home health care. The innovative program received support from the Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration in 2003 with an $810,000 grant over the course of three years. The program increased job satisfaction for nurses serving as mentors and decreased the nursing vacancies.
Green championed the paperless medical records system, which included putting laptops in the hands of all clinicians. With 12 clinical and program sites, paperless records allow for better continuity and coordination of care.
Clinical programs have also expanded under Green's leadership. New programs and services have focused on innovative approaches to medication compliance, fall prevention and various disease management initiatives to ensure patient safety and promote quality of life. VNA Care Network's Cultural Competency Program has trained nearly 2,000 community health and human service providers to date in cultural competency principles and strategies to reduce health disparities since its introduction in 2001.
Green remains committed to the agency's charitable mission, which began more than a century ago. VNA Care Network & Hospice provides over one million dollars of free health care to the needy in Massachusetts each year.
Green is sought after for her health care knowledge and leadership abilities. She currently serves on the boards of Central Massachusetts Partnership to Improve Care at the End of Life, Fallon Community Health Plan, Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, Saint Francis Home and Visiting Nurse Associations of New England and the legislative committee of Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts.
Posted: June 26, 2006