Latest / Aired Out / Alex Boguzewski tribute with Sandy Rousse of Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice

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Alex Boguzewski tribute with Sandy Rousse of Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice · Aired Out

0:17
Speaker 1: The band.
0:47
Speaker 2: Let right, all right, here we go back in this
1:05
Speaker 2: saddle back in the studio, Flying the Wall production.
1:08
Speaker 3: It's bringing you the aired Out podcast live on Facebook
1:12
Speaker 3: and YouTube. Were streamed everywhere you get your podcasts. It's Wednesday,
1:17
Speaker 3: August twelfth. The primaries are officially over. The results are
1:23
Speaker 3: posted up on aired Out this morning, and there is
1:26
Speaker 3: plenty plenty more to say about it, and we will
1:30
Speaker 3: we have time. We have time seventy six right now
1:33
Speaker 3: in the Granite City. We're starting out with sunshine and
1:38
Speaker 3: clouds that are going to be moving in a little
1:40
Speaker 3: bit later, possibly in isolated thunderstorm this afternoon, but it
1:44
Speaker 3: is going to be hot. Eighty seven degrees gonna be
1:47
Speaker 3: hot one if you're headed to Currier Park this afternoon
1:50
Speaker 3: for the concerts in the park, the food trucks, the
1:54
Speaker 3: live music and everything else. Is going to be a
1:59
Speaker 3: hot one for shore Yeah, tonight, cloudy seventy three Tomorrow morning,
2:03
Speaker 3: sun afternoon, clouds hot again. Ninety one tomorrow night for
2:07
Speaker 3: thunder Road looks pretty good at this point. Seventy two
2:10
Speaker 3: degrees under Cloud's Friday continued hot though eighty eight and
2:16
Speaker 3: cloudy skies weekend at this point. First half of it
2:19
Speaker 3: looks better than the second half. Sun and clouds both
2:23
Speaker 3: in the mix eighty seven on Saturday and clouds and
2:26
Speaker 3: thunderstorms on Sunday. A couple of birthdays today, Elizabeth Fry,
2:32
Speaker 3: Justin Lambson, let's see Darren Giles, Toby White, Happy birthday
2:39
Speaker 3: to you. On the couch right next to me, Sandy Rus,
2:42
Speaker 3: the President and CEO of Central from out Home Health
2:46
Speaker 3: and Hospice. It is an absolute pleasure to have you
2:48
Speaker 3: back in here, Sandy. Good morning. How are you?
2:50
Speaker 4: Good morning, JJ, I'm doing great. Thanks so much for
2:53
Speaker 4: having me.
2:54
Speaker 3: We have a lot to talk about this morning. First
2:57
Speaker 3: thing I want to say is congrats on a stellar
3:03
Speaker 3: thirtieth golf tournament. That was amazing.
3:08
Speaker 4: Yes, it was amazing. We had a great day. It
3:11
Speaker 4: always seems to end up that way no matter what.
3:14
Speaker 4: We definitely had a full field of players, and everybody
3:19
Speaker 4: usually comes with a story and a cause. So I'm
3:23
Speaker 4: so grateful that those people show up because if it
3:26
Speaker 4: wasn't for them, you know, a lot of what we
3:28
Speaker 4: do wouldn't be what.
3:30
Speaker 3: It is incredible to think that this Memorial Golf Tournament
3:33
Speaker 3: has been going on for this many.
3:35
Speaker 5: Years, thirty years, thirty years and.
3:37
Speaker 3: It was just a couple of months ago a record
3:41
Speaker 3: amount raised.
3:42
Speaker 5: It was great.
3:42
Speaker 4: Our thirtieth year we hit our maximum earnings, so that
3:47
Speaker 4: was wonderful. It was definitely goes to show that our
3:51
Speaker 4: community shows up from home health and hospice and that's
3:55
Speaker 4: what we're grateful for, you know, the community is really
3:58
Speaker 4: the bedrock of what we do.
4:00
Speaker 3: Sure, and the sponsors look at the long list of
4:02
Speaker 3: them too. And I'll say this right now, even though
4:05
Speaker 3: the next one is next summer, if you want to
4:08
Speaker 3: if you want to be part of that, don't don't wait,
4:11
Speaker 3: say now, I would like to be a sponsor, because
4:13
Speaker 3: you guys were like selling out. It was incredible, right.
4:16
Speaker 4: We definitely were, Like I said, we had a full
4:18
Speaker 4: field and certainly you want to make it so the
4:21
Speaker 4: players aren't, you know, standing out on the course waiting
4:24
Speaker 4: and waiting.
4:25
Speaker 5: Sure to play.
4:26
Speaker 4: Although heard lots of laughing and all of that. So definitely,
4:31
Speaker 4: you know, worked well and the Country Club of Berrie
4:33
Speaker 4: was great. They were a great hosts and we're really
4:36
Speaker 4: thankful for that partnership as well.
4:38
Speaker 3: Sure sure, uh we're in We've got you in here
4:42
Speaker 3: this morning. Uh to for for a couple of reasons.
4:46
Speaker 3: Number one, uh, to talk about Central for mount home
4:50
Speaker 3: Health in a hospice. Your summer appeal is going on
4:52
Speaker 3: right now, and we'll talk about the importance of that.
4:58
Speaker 3: But we've we've we've attached this this summer appeal in
5:04
Speaker 3: great tribute and honor to a man who had a
5:08
Speaker 3: massive impact on so many lives here in central Vermont.
5:13
Speaker 3: I met Alex in one of those years that I
5:19
Speaker 3: was working at Froggy one hundred point nine, and he
5:23
Speaker 3: was such a great guy, always had a smile, always
5:27
Speaker 3: was so so positive. We lost him a year ago
5:31
Speaker 3: to brain cancer at thirty three years old. How is
5:39
Speaker 3: Alex connected to this summer appeal? There's real a real
5:43
Speaker 3: personal story here.
5:45
Speaker 5: Right right.
5:46
Speaker 4: So Alex started at the organization in twenty twenty, actually
5:51
Speaker 4: right before kind of everything started closing down with COVID,
5:56
Speaker 4: and he just made an incredible impact. I just remember
6:00
Speaker 4: meeting him when he started, and usually new staff are
6:03
Speaker 4: brought around to the senior leadership to be introduced, etc.
6:07
Speaker 4: And he was, you know, he's tall and big and
6:10
Speaker 4: just like super friendly, and I remember meeting him, and
6:14
Speaker 4: then over time, as we started to get into the shutdown,
6:18
Speaker 4: Alex was one that was like, you know, tell me
6:21
Speaker 4: what I need to do, How can I do it?
6:23
Speaker 4: How can I help? He had quickly built relationships with clients,
6:29
Speaker 4: and it just so happened at that moment in time.
6:32
Speaker 4: I was going through a series of having come off
6:35
Speaker 4: going out in the field with staff on visits. I
6:39
Speaker 4: like to see what they do and how they do it,
6:42
Speaker 4: certainly get close to the community, and I happened to
6:45
Speaker 4: go out with Alex not long before all of this,
6:49
Speaker 4: all of COVID kind of heightened, and it was just
6:53
Speaker 4: incredible to see how he made an impact on these
6:59
Speaker 4: clients that worked with as a personal care attendant. And
7:02
Speaker 4: these individuals are home. One of our goals for individuals
7:07
Speaker 4: in those programs is how do we keep them independent
7:10
Speaker 4: for as long as possible, because these are individuals that
7:13
Speaker 4: if they weren't at home with supports, more than likely
7:16
Speaker 4: they'd have to be in some sort of facility base
7:19
Speaker 4: living or living with someone on a regular basis. And
7:24
Speaker 4: he just walked into the home and that individual was
7:28
Speaker 4: so happy to see him, and it was incredible the
7:31
Speaker 4: relationship he had and what he did and just kind
7:34
Speaker 4: of how he moved around and that individual trusted him,
7:38
Speaker 4: and they were skeptical of me. But I certainly got
7:43
Speaker 4: to know this client as well over time, which was
7:48
Speaker 4: really nice through him, and stayed connected and all of that.
7:52
Speaker 3: So, you know, COVID, as we all know, I think
7:57
Speaker 3: there was a time when so many of us were
8:00
Speaker 3: looking for ways to get out of a situation, or
8:07
Speaker 3: get out of our employment, or to move away from
8:12
Speaker 3: from something. Alex was looking for took that opportunity as
8:17
Speaker 3: a way to move in right, exactly like he wanted to.
8:22
Speaker 3: He wouldn't allow this to affect him, right.
8:25
Speaker 4: He was, you know, always shown up at my door,
8:28
Speaker 4: you know, hey boss, how's it going. And at the time,
8:31
Speaker 4: especially during COVID, there was only so many of us
8:34
Speaker 4: that were based in the office and you know, wearing
8:37
Speaker 4: masks and whatever. And he text me, you know, hey boss,
8:42
Speaker 4: how's it going. What can I do to help? You know?
8:45
Speaker 4: And I always knew when he texted it wasn't just
8:48
Speaker 4: a random thing. He was truly trying to offer something.
8:53
Speaker 4: He was very much about being positive, you know, making
8:57
Speaker 4: sure you're doing okay, how's everybody else doing, and then
9:03
Speaker 4: really promoting peace like and partnership and all those really
9:08
Speaker 4: positive things and He did that right through until almost
9:13
Speaker 4: the day he passed away. And I did get a
9:17
Speaker 4: text from him, probably a couple days before he passed
9:22
Speaker 4: away with a picture of him up at a Claire
9:26
Speaker 4: Miller respite house is where he went for his last
9:28
Speaker 4: few days of life. And he was in his CBHH gear,
9:34
Speaker 4: his shirt and blanket and all of that.
9:37
Speaker 3: Branded.
9:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, he was branded, and he just was. It was
9:43
Speaker 4: still very positive, even though he was the one that
9:47
Speaker 4: was really going through what other people really should have
9:51
Speaker 4: been supporting.
9:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, tell me about he was a member of the
9:54
Speaker 3: fire department, and he.
9:56
Speaker 4: Was Eastmont Pillier, Yes, And and at fifteen he became
10:01
Speaker 4: a member of the East Monpilier Fire Department. So he
10:05
Speaker 4: started at a very young age really working and embedded
10:09
Speaker 4: in the community, wanting to help, wanting to really help
10:14
Speaker 4: people and build community and connection. And we happened CVHJH
10:20
Speaker 4: happened to have a fairly close partnership with Eastmontpilier Fire Department.
10:26
Speaker 4: And not long after he had been there, it probably
10:29
Speaker 4: was after COVID had settled a bit, we went to
10:32
Speaker 4: the station. You know, we like to talk about what
10:35
Speaker 4: happens when AMAS goes into a home and what are
10:38
Speaker 4: their needs, What can we be doing differently to make
10:41
Speaker 4: sure we give them what they need if they have
10:43
Speaker 4: to transport one of our patients, and all of that.
10:46
Speaker 4: And Alex was there and you know, just got everybody
10:50
Speaker 4: together and it was you know, he's always trying to
10:54
Speaker 4: bring people together to solve problems, to make things better,
10:58
Speaker 4: to build those real life relationships and all of that.
11:01
Speaker 4: So that was definitely prevalent. And I can remember and
11:07
Speaker 4: I'm going to skip ahead. So Alex's funeral is actually
11:10
Speaker 4: the first funeral that I have been asked to speak at,
11:14
Speaker 4: So that was pretty impactful and it really took me
11:21
Speaker 4: a while to kind of put something together. Not that
11:24
Speaker 4: I didn't have things to say about him, but it
11:27
Speaker 4: was also thinking, my gosh, this is the first time
11:29
Speaker 4: I've done this, and it was pretty raw, you know,
11:32
Speaker 4: like somebody who's thirty three passing away, having received care
11:36
Speaker 4: from our organization, our staff worked tirelessly to support him
11:42
Speaker 4: for quite a long time. And I went to the
11:47
Speaker 4: funeral and it was just incredible. The first responders that
11:51
Speaker 4: showed up, the people that showed up, his friends that
11:55
Speaker 4: showed up, his caregivers, his employers. Yeah, it was I
12:02
Speaker 4: had never seen anything like it. And it was at
12:06
Speaker 4: the Capitol Plaza at the time, the Capitol Plaza or no,
12:09
Speaker 4: maybe it had been sold, I can't remember. And we
12:13
Speaker 4: were in the Grand Ballroom, the very large ballroom, and
12:17
Speaker 4: I stood up and the room was full to the walls.
12:22
Speaker 4: All the first responders were standing around the edges of
12:26
Speaker 4: the room. There were people standing up and back, there
12:30
Speaker 4: were no more seats. And something came over me and
12:35
Speaker 4: I remember saying, I feel like Alex is just going
12:38
Speaker 4: to walk into the room and be like, you know,
12:41
Speaker 4: it just felt like he was there, and it was
12:45
Speaker 4: pretty incredible. What did you say, Oh, I said a
12:49
Speaker 4: lot of things. The one thing that when I was
12:53
Speaker 4: writing what I was going to say was I looked
12:57
Speaker 4: up what his name meant, and that was one of
13:01
Speaker 4: the first things I did. And of course I have
13:03
Speaker 4: to put on my glasses to read here, and that
13:09
Speaker 4: meant his name Alex means defender of humankind or protector,
13:16
Speaker 4: and I thought, my gosh, isn't that just the most
13:21
Speaker 4: fitting for him?
13:23
Speaker 5: For him? I really was.
13:25
Speaker 4: Surprised, And a lot about what I talked about was
13:30
Speaker 4: really just his role in the organization. The spirit that
13:34
Speaker 4: he brought was he was branded. He cared about the organization,
13:40
Speaker 4: He cared about the people. He cared about the people
13:42
Speaker 4: that were being taken care of, not just by him,
13:45
Speaker 4: but by everybody else.
13:47
Speaker 5: And he was.
13:51
Speaker 4: This incredible spirit. I used to refer to him as
13:53
Speaker 4: the chief Morale Officer.
13:55
Speaker 3: Yes, the CMO.
13:56
Speaker 4: Yeah, the CMO.
13:57
Speaker 5: Yes, And he was pretty proud of that.
14:01
Speaker 3: Actually, it's incredible how somebody can embody so much empathy
14:07
Speaker 3: for others and not how do I say this walk
14:13
Speaker 3: around with the victim shirt on. He just wanted to
14:20
Speaker 3: take care of everybody else.
14:22
Speaker 4: He did. And he used to send me these texts
14:25
Speaker 4: on occasion, Hey boss, I have an idea.
14:27
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I think he was fine for your job, Sandy.
14:32
Speaker 4: And so I'd say okay, but I knew when he
14:35
Speaker 4: said it it was always something heartfelt. It wasn't just
14:38
Speaker 4: some shallow, yeah, shallow comment. It was something that was
14:44
Speaker 4: really important, and we took some of those ideas and
14:47
Speaker 4: put them into play. He knew not every idea makes
14:50
Speaker 4: a cut, not every idea I have makes a cut,
14:52
Speaker 4: but definitely it was really helpful, and lots of times
14:57
Speaker 4: it was how we can care about staff, yeah, just
15:01
Speaker 4: as much as we care about our patients.
15:03
Speaker 3: He also was doing some telehealth stuff.
15:09
Speaker 4: Yes, so we have Yeah, we have a remote patient
15:12
Speaker 4: monitoring system. So ultimately when we bring a patient on
15:16
Speaker 4: and they are going to become part of the remote
15:18
Speaker 4: patient monitoring program, he would go out and install the telemonitor,
15:25
Speaker 4: go through it with the patient, how to use it,
15:28
Speaker 4: et cetera, make sure all the connections were tests, do
15:32
Speaker 4: test with the office to make sure anything that's transmitted
15:36
Speaker 4: will truly transmit and make individuals feel comfortable using the technology.
15:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Summer appeal which has been going on for
15:49
Speaker 3: a long time.
15:50
Speaker 4: Yeah, since the beginning of June, I want to say,
15:53
Speaker 4: and may beginning of.
15:54
Speaker 3: June, but a couple of years.
15:57
Speaker 4: Oh, the whole Yes, the whole appeal.
16:00
Speaker 3: Yes, what what what I mean? Obviously you would you
16:08
Speaker 3: wanted Alex to be part of this?
16:11
Speaker 4: Yeah. I think for me, it's I believe in the
16:16
Speaker 4: services we provide, and ultimately the staff that provide these
16:21
Speaker 4: services care.
16:24
Speaker 5: Or they would never be doing or they wouldn't be
16:26
Speaker 5: doing it.
16:27
Speaker 3: Or they might for five minutes.
16:29
Speaker 4: Right. It takes a really big heart and it takes
16:34
Speaker 4: a really big commitment to do this work.
16:39
Speaker 5: And that's what makes the.
16:42
Speaker 4: Organization, and I've seen staff cry because they can't do anymore.
16:50
Speaker 4: You know, someone's in a place where they just can't
16:52
Speaker 4: do anymore. I've seen staff cry because of the relationships
16:56
Speaker 4: that they've made with these individuals and now they know,
17:00
Speaker 4: you know, it's progressing and they're going to be on
17:05
Speaker 4: their end of life journey. I've seen staff celebrate success
17:10
Speaker 4: and independence and yes, you're being discharged and you're going
17:14
Speaker 4: to do this. I personally have received those services. My
17:19
Speaker 4: husband has to. I'm a strong believer in trying to
17:24
Speaker 4: make people be able to stay at home for as
17:27
Speaker 4: long as they possibly can and right and when you
17:33
Speaker 4: think about it, I mean when you think about Central
17:36
Speaker 4: from Home Health and hospice, it really is about how
17:39
Speaker 4: do we keep people close to their family, neighbors, friends
17:43
Speaker 4: and pets and so important.
17:47
Speaker 3: I'm so glad you mentioned that because that's often and
17:51
Speaker 3: more often more important than frankly anything else, is staying
17:56
Speaker 3: with our pets.
17:57
Speaker 4: Right it is, And a lot of our work, lots
18:00
Speaker 4: of times is working with clients to say, especially those
18:04
Speaker 4: that may be on hospice, you know what's going to
18:08
Speaker 4: happen to my dog or my.
18:10
Speaker 3: Cat or more than anything else, and.
18:13
Speaker 4: We're working with either placing them and making sure they
18:18
Speaker 4: know when something happens to you, this is where they're
18:21
Speaker 4: going to go. They're not just going to go to
18:22
Speaker 4: a shelter, or sometimes the staff actually adopt the past.
18:26
Speaker 5: Yeah.
18:28
Speaker 3: I went through this very same thing right here in
18:32
Speaker 3: Central with my mom and dad, right.
18:35
Speaker 4: And it works the same too for individuals that maybe
18:38
Speaker 4: at the end of their journey and being able to
18:40
Speaker 4: be independent and be alone and may have to go
18:43
Speaker 4: to an assisted living or a nursing home, or maybe
18:47
Speaker 4: moving out of state to go live with a family
18:50
Speaker 4: member or out of town, you know, making sure that
18:55
Speaker 4: the things that are important to them are taking care of.
18:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, and some don't know if they're going to be
19:01
Speaker 3: there for a while or if they're going to be
19:02
Speaker 3: there forever, so it could be a temporary thing. I
19:05
Speaker 3: believe me that hits home for me. How did how
19:10
Speaker 3: did what did Alex say to you when he was like, Sandy,
19:16
Speaker 3: come on, you're gotta come with me? Is a PCA?
19:21
Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, let let's just be real honest here. Okay,
19:25
Speaker 3: you're extremely busy as the president and CEO. I can
19:29
Speaker 3: only imagine what a typical hour is. But for you
19:33
Speaker 3: to unplug and go with Alex. How did that happen?
19:37
Speaker 4: Well, I, like I said, on occasion, I like to
19:40
Speaker 4: go out in the field and I like to go
19:42
Speaker 4: on visits with staff. I haven't done it actually in
19:45
Speaker 4: a while through COVID, but I like to see what's
19:49
Speaker 4: happening in the field. It gives us a good indication
19:52
Speaker 4: of the challenges the staff are up against. Like we
19:54
Speaker 4: can talk about them, we have a good sense of
19:57
Speaker 4: what they are, but to really see it is another thing. Sure,
20:03
Speaker 4: it really puts things in perspective. So it just so happened.
20:07
Speaker 4: I had been out in the field with some home
20:09
Speaker 4: health clinicians and some hospice clinicians, and I said, you know,
20:14
Speaker 4: I haven't really been in the field with personal care attendants.
20:19
Speaker 4: So it just happened that Alex was chosen as that person.
20:23
Speaker 4: He'd say, hey, boss, you know, I want to bring
20:26
Speaker 4: you out on visits. And it just happened to be
20:29
Speaker 4: that the timing so it all worked. But usually, if
20:33
Speaker 4: you know, if anytime anyone said to me I want
20:36
Speaker 4: to take you out on visits, I would make time
20:38
Speaker 4: to do that.
20:40
Speaker 3: You have made this summer appeal part of Alex's story,
20:47
Speaker 3: his life story, but also his story with CVMC contacted
20:53
Speaker 3: his mom and said, we would like to make our
20:58
Speaker 3: summer appeal to Alex Right.
21:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, she was very grateful and very much happy to
21:07
Speaker 4: support that. And we wrote what we were going to
21:10
Speaker 4: say and we let her review it just to make sure.
21:14
Speaker 4: And yeah, Sharon is a wonderful person. Sharon worked for
21:17
Speaker 4: Blue Cross Blue Shield for many, many years. I'm sure
21:20
Speaker 4: many people know her in the community.
21:24
Speaker 3: That tribute that you wrote and posted on Facebook really
21:30
Speaker 3: hit a nerve with a lot of a lot of people.
21:35
Speaker 3: So what we're doing now is we're asking folks to contribute.
21:42
Speaker 3: The Summer Appeal runs until with the fifteenth I think.
21:44
Speaker 5: Of September November.
21:46
Speaker 3: Okay, what is the Summer Appeal and why is it
21:51
Speaker 3: so important?
21:52
Speaker 4: The Summer appeal actually supports, like our appeals that we
21:57
Speaker 4: do in the fall and summer really support. It's the
22:00
Speaker 4: overall organization and the programs that we provide, which are
22:04
Speaker 4: our home health programs, which is those medically skilled services
22:10
Speaker 4: primarily covered by Medicare. Medicare has cut our rates over
22:14
Speaker 4: fifty percent in the last eleven years. Certainly, our hospice
22:18
Speaker 4: program as well as our long term care programs, which
22:22
Speaker 4: are Medicaid funded programs, and then we have our home maternal,
22:27
Speaker 4: Family and Child health programs, which certainly, I think a
22:32
Speaker 4: lot of people when they think about home health, they
22:35
Speaker 4: think about older individuals and people that are primarily, you know,
22:40
Speaker 4: not able to leave their home, and that's certainly not
22:44
Speaker 4: our work.
22:44
Speaker 5: Exactly.
22:46
Speaker 4: It starts pre birth and it goes through post death,
22:51
Speaker 4: so it's really a whole host of services. Central Vermount
22:54
Speaker 4: Home Health and Hospices services actually started with Maternal Family
23:00
Speaker 4: Child Health services.
23:02
Speaker 3: That was the origin.
23:03
Speaker 5: Yeah, that was the.
23:04
Speaker 4: Origin of it. Yes, and the're going caring for children at.
23:08
Speaker 3: School, and we're talking about like a hundred.
23:10
Speaker 5: Years right, Yes, exactly, amazing.
23:15
Speaker 4: So it is pretty amazing in those programs. We all
23:17
Speaker 4: know that when you support children and families, once you're
23:23
Speaker 4: starting out, you're starting off.
23:25
Speaker 5: That's where.
23:27
Speaker 4: That's the foundation. So we really work throughout the foundation
23:32
Speaker 4: and we have plenty of amazing partners in the community
23:35
Speaker 4: that also work with those individuals as they you know,
23:39
Speaker 4: pass on through their journey in the life.
23:42
Speaker 3: So we're still able to care for folks regardless of
23:48
Speaker 3: what's happening on a federal level. Yes, we're still able
23:52
Speaker 3: to do that.
23:53
Speaker 4: We are still able to do.
23:54
Speaker 5: That regardless of the generous community.
23:56
Speaker 4: We have to rely on our fundraising efforts to support
24:01
Speaker 4: operational losses that we've had for years. Our board is incredible.
24:05
Speaker 4: We have had the opportunity of having some investments which
24:10
Speaker 4: we use on a regular basis to support operations, certainly
24:15
Speaker 4: to support workforce demands, et cetera. And we have to
24:20
Speaker 4: really look at our resources and how we utilize them.
24:25
Speaker 4: So certainly technology, there's a lot to be said about
24:29
Speaker 4: AI and artificial intelligence to support some of the back
24:34
Speaker 4: room services. Also to support staff and having to write
24:38
Speaker 4: their notes. It doesn't take place, it doesn't make clinical decisions,
24:44
Speaker 4: but those are the things we all need to look
24:46
Speaker 4: at in our healthcare community to support staff being able
24:51
Speaker 4: to spend as much time as possible and taking care
24:54
Speaker 4: of individuals versus all the other paperwork that has to
24:57
Speaker 4: be done.
24:59
Speaker 3: The technology get the telehealth has really popped over the.
25:03
Speaker 4: Remote patient monitoring, certainly in the telehealth aspect. I know
25:08
Speaker 4: when we went through COVID, we were in a place
25:11
Speaker 4: where we could immediately shift and pivot to doing telehealth visits,
25:17
Speaker 4: and certainly we had the remote patient monitoring ability where
25:21
Speaker 4: providers can get into that platform and actually see the
25:25
Speaker 4: results that the patients are transmitting for themselves.
25:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, whether it's breathing machines or whatever it is.
25:32
Speaker 4: Yeah, for the most part, our remote patient monitoring really
25:36
Speaker 4: focuses on individuals that have diseases that are high risks
25:40
Speaker 4: for hospitalizations, such as congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
25:46
Speaker 4: you know, any sort of cardiac A lot of that,
25:49
Speaker 4: so weight, blood pressure, pulse, ox oxygen levels, et cetera.
25:54
Speaker 3: But what that does, it's so great that keeps people home,
25:59
Speaker 3: comfortable with the pets, whatever, in their own surrounding, what
26:03
Speaker 3: they're familiar with, without having to schlep out of the
26:07
Speaker 3: house right middle of winter to drive to a doctor's appointment.
26:12
Speaker 5: Right exactly.
26:14
Speaker 4: And we know that a lot of our physician and
26:16
Speaker 4: provider community is really relying on telehealth to reach and
26:22
Speaker 4: promote access.
26:23
Speaker 3: There's a price tag with this, there is a.
26:25
Speaker 5: Christ tag with that stuff.
26:26
Speaker 4: And for home health, none of that is reimbursed because
26:30
Speaker 4: they believe home health. Medicare believes home health is in
26:33
Speaker 4: the home, so somebody's got to go there, but they
26:36
Speaker 4: haven't really adjusted to how do we keep up with
26:39
Speaker 4: that because we have individuals that ultimately need more oversight
26:45
Speaker 4: than you know, sure we can provide in person so
26:50
Speaker 4: to speak.
26:51
Speaker 3: What about growth and recruitment you're always looking for.
26:57
Speaker 4: We are we actually are starting a really great career
27:02
Speaker 4: pathway next week.
27:04
Speaker 3: Yes, we have right.
27:05
Speaker 4: First, August seventeenth is our first l and a training
27:09
Speaker 4: program that we are offering through CBHH. So we have
27:13
Speaker 4: a couple of our personal care attendants that are going
27:16
Speaker 4: to be going through that program so that next step
27:19
Speaker 4: up in their career pathway. And we also have a
27:22
Speaker 4: couple others that have applied through the community. So we're
27:26
Speaker 4: starting small for the first program because it's our first one.
27:29
Speaker 4: We want to make sure it's successful and we have
27:33
Speaker 4: the ability to start that growth.
27:37
Speaker 3: You know, I have to just mention this because it's
27:41
Speaker 3: it's on my mind and regretted it if I don't.
27:47
Speaker 3: The bereavement courses for lack of.
27:51
Speaker 5: A better term support.
27:53
Speaker 3: Support crew that you guys have have done recently have
27:57
Speaker 3: come at a time when this local community right outside
28:02
Speaker 3: this window really needed.
28:05
Speaker 5: Yes, there's we've had We've had a couple of tragedy.
28:09
Speaker 3: There's been some tragedy. Right, there's been some great loss.
28:13
Speaker 4: And there are a lot of organizations that really have
28:15
Speaker 4: supported a lot of that grief support as well over
28:19
Speaker 4: the years. You know, so it's it's certainly we're out there.
28:23
Speaker 4: Washington County Mental Health has done a lot of support sure,
28:27
Speaker 4: certainly in the in the school level and just other organizations,
28:32
Speaker 4: other organizations throughout you know, it seems like once again
28:37
Speaker 4: that's really supporting some of the things that really have
28:40
Speaker 4: an impact on overall people's health.
28:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, we we we talked about uh, we've we've talked
28:49
Speaker 3: about efficiency. What's going on with the electronic medical record.
28:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we've had an electronic medical record for quite
28:57
Speaker 4: some time and we are actually inverting to a new
29:01
Speaker 4: system mid September is are goal live. So we're really
29:04
Speaker 4: excited about it. It's been a really inclusive process that
29:08
Speaker 4: we started last year where we set out and we
29:12
Speaker 4: really wanted to focus on those electronic medical records that
29:17
Speaker 4: were really focused for the home health and hospice industry.
29:20
Speaker 4: So there are a lot of systems out there that
29:22
Speaker 4: are built and they have a home health and hospice module,
29:25
Speaker 4: but they're really built either for a hospital setting or
29:29
Speaker 4: a primary care practice setting, etc. But our focus was
29:32
Speaker 4: really how can we get the technology and the integration
29:36
Speaker 4: capability to potentially share information but ultimately really support our
29:42
Speaker 4: work and our workflow for our staff because once again
29:46
Speaker 4: you hear from clinicians so many times, so much of
29:49
Speaker 4: their time is spent with documentation and patient paperwork. So ultimately, last,
29:57
Speaker 4: I want to say, last spring early, we started a
30:01
Speaker 4: whole process. We determined about six or seven software vendors
30:07
Speaker 4: that we were going to RFP two. We did the RFPs.
30:10
Speaker 4: We have a whole team that was reviewing that those RFPs,
30:15
Speaker 4: We narrowed that down, we did demonstrations on site, We
30:19
Speaker 4: brought staff in to participate in those demonstrations at all levels,
30:24
Speaker 4: and then ultimately there was a scorecard and we took
30:28
Speaker 4: those scorecards from all the staff that participated in those
30:31
Speaker 4: demonstrations and chose our system from there. And then after
30:36
Speaker 4: that we went We have been in the implementation phase
30:39
Speaker 4: where we've worked with this software vendor to really build
30:43
Speaker 4: our system based on our workflows. So it's been a
30:48
Speaker 4: very long, intensive process. We are really excited to go live.
30:54
Speaker 4: We've had strong support from our software vendor as well
30:59
Speaker 4: as another insulting group that's worked with us from our
31:01
Speaker 4: project management perspective, and we're looking forward to it. Tablets,
31:07
Speaker 4: new technology, some potential use of AI artificial intelligence that
31:12
Speaker 4: does not replace a clinician. It is not making clinical
31:15
Speaker 4: decisions ultimately, it's helping with the documentation like what happens
31:20
Speaker 4: in your doctor's office nowadays? Yeah, right right, and then
31:24
Speaker 4: some backroom stuff, you know, chart reviews for all our
31:27
Speaker 4: quality work and stuff like that. So that's kind of
31:30
Speaker 4: our trajectory and path, which is really what's happening in
31:34
Speaker 4: our industry and sector, and with resources being so tight,
31:39
Speaker 4: there are ways that we have to look to be
31:41
Speaker 4: more efficient in running our business.
31:44
Speaker 3: And all of this, as we have alluded to, comes
31:48
Speaker 3: with a price tag.
31:49
Speaker 5: It comes with a price stage. It does a very
31:51
Speaker 5: large price tag.
31:52
Speaker 3: Yeah sure, I can only imagine.
31:54
Speaker 4: I want to go back to our l and A
31:56
Speaker 4: training program because we are really fortunate that we've had
32:00
Speaker 4: an incredible donor that has given us funding to actually
32:04
Speaker 4: support that LNA training program. So I am extremely grateful.
32:10
Speaker 4: He has been a wonderful supporter of our work and
32:15
Speaker 4: we're going to have some really good outcomes and it
32:17
Speaker 4: really I have been waiting to launch this program now
32:20
Speaker 4: for years, so I am like full on board. We
32:23
Speaker 4: are doing this, Our staff are really excited about it, and.
32:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, do you want to drop any names here or.
32:31
Speaker 4: Is this I'm not going to drop a name on
32:33
Speaker 4: this one, but certainly I speak to him on a
32:36
Speaker 4: regular basis and we send him information regularly. But he
32:39
Speaker 4: is absolutely wonderful to support our organization in the way
32:43
Speaker 4: he does.
32:44
Speaker 3: I know that you have spent quite a bit of
32:47
Speaker 3: time with other members of your team in month Pilier
32:54
Speaker 3: advocating for the need for LNA's in this state right, local.
33:01
Speaker 4: Right, and it's felt throughout the industry and nursing homes,
33:07
Speaker 4: all sorts of facilities, hospital everywhere, everywhere. So we're hoping
33:12
Speaker 4: this is really an opportunity for individuals to see that,
33:16
Speaker 4: you know, we can build career pathways and some of
33:20
Speaker 4: that going beyond the l and A is really partnering
33:23
Speaker 4: with other organizations to really support that. I know of
33:27
Speaker 4: recent we had an individual who was a LPN with
33:31
Speaker 4: us and he was actually going to receive his RN,
33:36
Speaker 4: so we partnered with him with regards to doing his
33:41
Speaker 4: clinicals and needing to you know, not be able to
33:45
Speaker 4: work a full time schedule, but ultimately supporting him to
33:48
Speaker 4: have a full time pay and then be able to
33:52
Speaker 4: stay on with us once he became an RN, which
33:55
Speaker 4: has worked out very successfully. And once again we've had
33:58
Speaker 4: donor dollars just for us being able to do that,
34:02
Speaker 4: and it was that same donor to really help us support.
34:06
Speaker 4: Now there is some state funding out there that we
34:08
Speaker 4: can potentially tap into, but ultimately it's a way for
34:13
Speaker 4: us to really look differently. So we as an organization,
34:17
Speaker 4: as a VNA system, can offer these different career pathway programs,
34:23
Speaker 4: but they may look different than what a hospital can
34:26
Speaker 4: do with the different resources they have and the ability,
34:29
Speaker 4: So we may have just a very different version of that,
34:33
Speaker 4: but potentially we're able to support that. So it's really
34:36
Speaker 4: giving individuals an opportunity to work at all levels of
34:40
Speaker 4: the healthcare system.
34:41
Speaker 3: I'm going to be paying very careful attention to CVAJJ
34:46
Speaker 3: dot org, but if you hop on the website, you
34:50
Speaker 3: can click on careers right there. But we'll be promoting
34:54
Speaker 3: this l and A program heavily here. Thank you so exciting.
34:58
Speaker 4: We're excited and we're you know, like I said, we've
35:02
Speaker 4: been waiting to do this for several years and it's
35:06
Speaker 4: become a reality.
35:08
Speaker 3: Where might this like any more details? Like will this
35:12
Speaker 3: be like up on Granger Road or CVMs.
35:14
Speaker 4: We'll be right up on Granger Road and we have
35:17
Speaker 4: a training room and certainly the staff will be training
35:20
Speaker 4: out in the fields and doing you know, we have
35:23
Speaker 4: patients that are in facilities as well, so we'll be
35:27
Speaker 4: partnering with them for those individuals to get some of
35:30
Speaker 4: their hands on training through seeing our patients there, et cetera.
35:35
Speaker 3: So so needed. And I know that we've got plenty
35:39
Speaker 3: of listeners right now that are saying about time. Right, yeah,
35:44
Speaker 3: this is this great news, that's great news. So for
35:47
Speaker 3: folks that would would like to make a donation during
35:52
Speaker 3: the summer appeal, you've got to let's just say a
35:57
Speaker 3: few more weeks here, middle of September, right, Please don't
36:01
Speaker 3: sit on this and wait on this. Make a donation.
36:07
Speaker 3: How easy is it? You just get on the website.
36:10
Speaker 4: You can certainly go on the website and make it
36:12
Speaker 4: right there.
36:13
Speaker 5: Absolutely, Yes, what are we asking for here?
36:17
Speaker 3: Are we asking for ten bucks? One hundred bucks?
36:23
Speaker 4: Really, it's any amount you can give. We've we have
36:28
Speaker 4: a whole host of donors that are all ranges and
36:32
Speaker 4: that's what's most important. You know, we are power in numbers, right,
36:36
Speaker 4: power and numbers, So our donor base is significant, and
36:41
Speaker 4: you know it's our community and whatever they can do
36:45
Speaker 4: to support is really important to us.
36:49
Speaker 3: All in tribute to.
36:52
Speaker 5: Alex, contribute to Alex.
36:54
Speaker 4: We want his legacy.
36:55
Speaker 5: To live on.
36:57
Speaker 3: I think I think it's going to you know, you know,
37:02
Speaker 3: this is uh, this is one story. This is one
37:06
Speaker 3: man that has made such an impact on so many,
37:11
Speaker 3: so many lives in including your your whole staff, it
37:15
Speaker 3: has he's already got the legacy.
37:20
Speaker 4: And you know, we've had other staff that have been
37:24
Speaker 4: in his circumstance for different reasons, or you know, other
37:28
Speaker 4: staff that have come through and actually ended up using
37:31
Speaker 4: our hospice program. So definitely, when it's one of your own,
37:36
Speaker 4: when the staff see it's one of their own, even
37:38
Speaker 4: if they haven't worked with them, sure, it's it puts
37:44
Speaker 4: things in perspective.
37:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously we're going to be pushing the summer appeal
37:51
Speaker 3: here over the next couple of weeks in memory of Alex.
37:55
Speaker 3: Obviously we're going to be talking about the l n
37:58
Speaker 3: A program. But is there anything else that you can
38:00
Speaker 3: think of, Sandy that you want to push this morning.
38:04
Speaker 4: I don't think so. Other than once again, I mean,
38:07
Speaker 4: it's the staff that makes this all happen. The work
38:12
Speaker 4: they do helps individuals, you know, they individuals rely on
38:17
Speaker 4: them to give them a better tomorrow, and that's what's
38:20
Speaker 4: most important.
38:21
Speaker 3: It's remarkable to me that here's an organization that their
38:27
Speaker 3: bottom line is their priority is to take care of others,
38:31
Speaker 3: even if regardless of the patient's ability to pay, which
38:39
Speaker 3: is like who does that, right?
38:41
Speaker 4: And certainly we're regulated to that as well.
38:45
Speaker 3: So, I mean, the cost of medical insurance, the cost
38:51
Speaker 3: of healthcare, and it's not just Vermont, it's everywhere is
38:57
Speaker 3: insane right now.
38:58
Speaker 5: It is pretty incredible.
39:00
Speaker 3: And the fact that you guys are are doing this,
39:02
Speaker 3: you've got the backs of all and it.
39:07
Speaker 4: Is it really is our community that allows us to
39:10
Speaker 4: do that. So and you know, there's nobody's perfect at everything.
39:16
Speaker 4: There are times where you know, there are things we
39:19
Speaker 4: can't do and it doesn't quite meet the need. But
39:23
Speaker 4: we have you know, quality programs and that's what they're
39:26
Speaker 4: in place for, you know, quality improvement programs, and it's
39:29
Speaker 4: active and that's how we become better. But certainly the
39:34
Speaker 4: industry is pretty strapped right now in lots of ways,
39:39
Speaker 4: not just financially, but really resource workforce is incredible. The
39:44
Speaker 4: needs are significant and there's there's a lot to balance
39:49
Speaker 4: out there. So we're fortunate we have a strong Central
39:52
Speaker 4: Vermont community of providers. You know, we have Central Vermont
39:56
Speaker 4: Medical Center and all their primary care physicians, have Plainfield
40:01
Speaker 4: Health Center, that's our federally qualified health center. We have
40:04
Speaker 4: the United Way, We have Washington County Mental Health, we
40:07
Speaker 4: have Parent Child Center of Washington County. You know, that's
40:11
Speaker 4: just naming a minimal number of organizations that really come
40:16
Speaker 4: together on a regular basis to support these individuals in
40:20
Speaker 4: their home.
40:21
Speaker 3: Listen. You know, I love talking about community but and
40:24
Speaker 3: I love interviewing people, and I also love goofing around.
40:29
Speaker 3: But some of the stuff that goes into these microphones
40:33
Speaker 3: is so so important, and it's more important than just
40:38
Speaker 3: information and entertainment. It's really really critical. And I absolutely
40:46
Speaker 3: love chatting about anything to do with Central or Mount
40:49
Speaker 3: Home Health and hospice. You guys do so so much.
40:52
Speaker 4: I love it too. My job is really easy based
40:55
Speaker 4: on the work that the staff do and the community.
40:59
Speaker 3: Twenty years at the Post or fourteen yea like that years.
41:05
Speaker 5: It's been a while.
41:06
Speaker 4: This is twenty a little over twenty years with Central
41:10
Speaker 4: from my home health, and it's really I'm really passionate
41:13
Speaker 4: about it. And yeah, fourteen or fifteen or something like
41:18
Speaker 4: that as presidency.
41:20
Speaker 5: Yes, fourteen, long time, right, long time?
41:22
Speaker 4: Yeah, wow, Yeah, So I feel very lucky.
41:25
Speaker 3: Kudos to your entire staff. Thank you, big hello to Emily,
41:30
Speaker 3: but your r NS.
41:33
Speaker 5: All of us.
41:35
Speaker 4: It definitely takes all of us to do the work,
41:37
Speaker 4: There's no question about that.
41:38
Speaker 3: Do great, great work.
41:39
Speaker 4: We're very lucky.
41:41
Speaker 3: So maybe I'll learn how.
41:44
Speaker 5: To play golf.
41:46
Speaker 3: Maybe Eddie will show me a thing or two.
41:48
Speaker 4: You know, I've kind of liked it on the sidelines.
41:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, same here.
41:54
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for community well, thank you, and
41:57
Speaker 4: thank you for allowing us to highlight Alex and his
42:01
Speaker 4: generosity to the community and for the community and just
42:05
Speaker 4: how much we care about him and his family. And yeah,
42:10
Speaker 4: and what a great employee he was and we have
42:13
Speaker 4: a lot of individuals like him.
42:15
Speaker 3: Listen, you know you I don't have to tell you this.
42:17
Speaker 3: You know that you're invited in here anytime. Obviously. Thank
42:23
Speaker 3: you for being a presenting sponsor for so long. But
42:26
Speaker 3: aside from that, you guys are welcome in.
42:29
Speaker 5: Here anytimeat and.
42:31
Speaker 3: Make sure Emily knows that too. If you want to
42:33
Speaker 3: hit this bang this drum again before this summer appeal ends,
42:37
Speaker 3: I'm all about.
42:38
Speaker 4: Okay, great, Yeah, maybe you know too. It would be
42:41
Speaker 4: great to bring in some of our partners and do
42:44
Speaker 4: something together.
42:45
Speaker 5: Because we work so closely.
42:47
Speaker 4: It's not just us. It definitely takes an army, and
42:52
Speaker 4: some days it feels like that.
42:53
Speaker 3: Sure, I'm sure it does. I can only imagine, I
42:56
Speaker 3: can only imagine. Thank you so much, saying thanks so much,
43:00
Speaker 3: Sandy Russ, my guest this morning, President and CEO of
43:04
Speaker 3: Central Vermont Home Health in Hospice. As we pay tribute
43:09
Speaker 3: this morning to Bogo and the summer appeal is on.
43:14
Speaker 3: If you can make a donation, please contribute today to
43:19
Speaker 3: Central Vermont home Health and Hospice to continue their mission. Tomorrow,
43:24
Speaker 3: we're going to be taking a deep dive on mental
43:27
Speaker 3: health in a big, big way here in the airwaves.
43:31
Speaker 3: Don't miss it. It's going to be real raw, it's
43:34
Speaker 3: going to be super relevant and will connect in with
43:37
Speaker 3: you tomorrow morning about nine o'clock right here in the
43:39
Speaker 3: aired out.
43:40
Speaker 6: Podcast back.
44:10
Speaker 7: Back back back back
45:00
Speaker 1: Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss