Carol Raphael to Step Down as CEO of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York

NEW YORK, April 9, 2011 /PRNewswire- USNewswire/ -- The Visiting Nurse Service of New York announced today that Carol Raphael will be stepping down after 22 years as the organization's President and Chief Executive Officer.  Ms. Raphael informed the Board of Directors of her decision, agreeing to remain in her current role for 2011 or through the first quarter of 2012 if necessary to ensure a smooth transition. The executive search firm Spencer Stuart has been retained to conduct a nationwide search for a replacement under the direction of the Board's search committee.

"Carol Raphael's talent, dedication and leadership of VNSNY are unparalleled in healthcare and will leave a legacy of accomplishments that will last long beyond her years with our organization," said Douglas D. Broadwater, Chairman of the Board of Directors. "VNSNY regrets that our longstanding leader has decided to step down rather than again extend her tenure."

Under Ms. Raphael's leadership VNSNY has grown to be the largest not-for-profit home health care organization in the nation, with revenue of more than $1.2 billion in 2010 and more than 15,000 staff.  Its certified home health care operation, including VNSNY Home Care, Partners in Care and VNSNY Hospice and Palliative Care has more than 30,000 New Yorkers under care on any given day.  

In 1998, Ms. Raphael launched VNSNY's Managed Long-Term Care (MLTC) plan for nursing home eligible New Yorkers covered by Medicaid, ushering VNSNY into health insurance plans geared to serving the chronically ill and functionally impaired living in the New York metro area.  Today, the VNSNY CHOICE MLTC plan is the largest in New York State, with almost 9,000 members.  In 2007, VNSNY CHOICE added a Medicare Advantage special needs plan serving "duals," people with both Medicaid and Medicare coverage. The high-touch medical management of these plans and successful outcomes members achieve serve as national models.  

Also during Ms. Raphael's tenure, VNSNY provided more than $300 million in charitable care to under-insured and uninsured New Yorkers.  Through community benefit activities, VNSNY has helped low income first time parents, thousands of children in need, implemented the largest Nurse Family Partnership program in our city and administered countless free flu shots to the elderly.

Commenting on her future plans, Ms. Raphael said, "My time at VNSNY has been the most satisfying of my professional life.  It has been my privilege to share in the rich legacy at VNSNY, and I am confident that the values upon which the organization was founded in 1893 will enable VNSNY to grow, prosper, and meet the needs of our communities in the years to come.  As for me, I look forward to continuing to contribute to addressing the challenges facing our nation's health care system and the issues and concerns facing our aging population."

SOURCE Visiting Nurse Service of New York