• Message from the board chair
• Our Purpose
• When Purpose Works
• Year in Review

Aurora VNA 2011 Annual Report

Welcome from Candace Hennessy

On any given day, the Aurora Visiting Nurse Association is touching thousands of lives throughout eastern Wisconsin. As part of an integrated health system, the Aurora VNA is playing a significant role in keeping people out of the hospital - something that helps lower the costs of care while improving quality of life. In fact, most days we care for more people at home than the total number of patients admitted to Aurora hospitals.

In 2011, our commitment to providing quality, consistent care continued to touch more people in many ways.

• The number of children we cared for increased by 14 percent from the previous year.
• Increasing numbers of patients relied on us for essential home medical equipment.
• The number of infusion therapy patients increased three percent.
• Each day, we cared for 2,324 patients - an increase of 41 more patients a day than the previous year.

I am pleased that in a time when more people than ever depend on us, our patients' experience with Aurora VNA was among the best in the nation. Once again we were among the nation's HomeCare Elite*. That means we are in the top tier of more than 10,000 home health agencies across the country.

Our commitment and level of care for the many children we cared for in 2011 was recognized in a new partnership with Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. The Aurora VNA is now the preferred provider for in-home pediatric services throughout the Children’s Hospital service area.

The Aurora VNA has a long history of community support and partnerships. In 2011, we continued to have the support of the United Way in Milwaukee and other communities. This included important financial support and the assistance of volunteers. Thank you to volunteers from U.S. Bank who partnered with the Aurora Adult Day Center as part of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee's "Days of Caring." This event allowed 46 day center clients the opportunity to experience an afternoon at the Milwaukee County Zoo.

One of the key advancements for our patient care efforts occurred in 2011. Every home health nurse and home health professional is now connected to the same electronic health record system that our Aurora hospitals and clinics are using. Nurses, aides and therapists now all have a 360 degree view of each patient, right at the point of care in the patient’s home. This system provides stronger transitional care and care coordination for the thousands of children and adults we serve each year.

In the past year, we achieved much because of so many individuals and groups – our dedicated home health nurses, therapists and other caregivers, volunteers, donors and board of directors. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Candace Hennessy, PhD, RN
President
Aurora Visiting Nurse Association of Wisconsin

* An annual compilation by OCS HomeCare and DecisionHealth of the most successful home care providers in the U.S.