Page 13 - 2018CharitableCareReport6

Enriching

Arjan’s life

VNSNY Charitable Care Services

Living with congestive heart failure requires a constant balance—
a fine-tuning of medications depending on vital signs, weight gain or loss, In 2017, VNSNY
diet, activity, and mood. Thankfully for Arjan*, who was hospitalized for the
condition, he had VNSNY care coordinator Shaneeza Khan, RN, to help him provided charitable care
and his daughter navigate that balance and coordinate his complex to 8,500 of our under-
medication management once he returned home. and uninsured neighbors.

“When someone’s in the hospital, their environment is controlled and they’re
monitored all the time, but when they come home they are not,” says Shaneeza,
who visits Arjan once a week. “Their diet changes, their activity level changes,
and that can affect how the medication is working.” In her initial visit, she
found that Arjan’s blood pressure was too low and immediately contacted
the doctor, who reassessed and cut back certain medications.

Within a few short weeks, Arjan brightened from a sullen, isolated man who
would not exchange a word with the visiting nurse to an eager conversationalist
(with his daughter, Rina, translating). Uninsured, he speaks no English and is In 2017, VNSNY
still grieving the recent loss of his wife, but he is adjusting. “He’s changed a lot provided $7.2M in
compared to when he first came home. His walking has really improved, and charitable care for the
he’s much more calm and secure, not so nervous as before,” says Rina, adding under- and uninsured.
that she, too, feels great relief now that a team is helping her care for her
father and keep him safely at home.

“Individuals who don’t have ready access to health care often simply go to
the emergency room when things get dire,” says Shaneeza. “The charitable
care that we provide is essential, as a way of keeping even one person—
this person—out of the hospital.”

* The patient’s name has been changed for privacy.

11 1111