VNS Westchester Awarded Grant from Aging in America, Inc. to Stem the Tide of Sepsis among Home Care Patients

December 14, 2017

 

$25,000 grant matched by VNSW Foundation, Inc.

White Plains, NY. –  Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester, Inc. (VNSW), has been awarded a $25,000 grant from Aging in America, Inc. to support the integration of an innovative Sepsis Screening, Education and Intervention Tool into its clinical practice. The funding will enable the not-for-profit agency’s home care work force to screen more than 10,000 patients in their homes annually as part of its best practices in patient care. The VNSW Foundation, Inc. provided a matching grant of $25,000 to underwrite staff training in identifying and managing sepsis in the home and in utilizing the screening tool for optimal patient outcomes.

Sepsis, the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection, has been declared a national medical emergency by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Commonly misunderstood as a “hospital problem,” Sepsis Alliance reports that 80% of sepsis cases originate in the home and community, often afflicting people 65 or older with chronic health conditions.

Developed by the Home Care Association of NYS (HCA), Sepsis Alliance and IPRO, the Sepsis Screening, Education and Intervention Tool is the first-of-its-kind in New York State and in the nation, currently being rolled out as a statewide model for scaling up as a national home care model for sepsis interventions.

According to VNSW President & CEO, Tim Leddy, “With the majority of our patients at high risk for developing sepsis, this is a pivotal moment for our agency to step in with early intervention tools to stem the tide of this serious condition at the point of care at home.  Through regular screenings for symptom identification, we can initiate early treatment interventions that will vastly reduce instances of the condition, prevent unnecessary hospital re-admissions and save lives. We are extremely grateful to Aging in America, Inc., for helping us take this great leap forward in sepsis prevention for our patients, particularly among our growing elderly population.”

For information on VNS Westchester or the VNSW Foundation, Inc., call (914)682-1480 or visit: www.vns.org or www.Facebook.com/VNSWestchester

Press Contact:

Joyce Infante, Director of Development & Communications

jinfante@vns.org

914-682-1480, ext. 649

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