I am a Home Care nurse. I have given years of dedicated service caring for our most fragile and medically critical community members in Orange, Rockland and Duchess Counties. I am torn between disbelief and heartbreak at the news that Westchester Medical Center has decided to close all three of its home care agencies in our locality. Good Samaritan Home Care which services Orange and Rockland counties and Mid-Hudson Regional Home Care which services Duchess County. 

Home Care services play a vital role in our local communities, providing skilled nursing, physical, occupational, speech therapy, MSW, dietician and home health aides. They provide invaluable care to those most in need, who due to their critical health condition, can no longer leave their homes. 

Good Samaritan Home Care has a 5 Star Patient Survey Rating on Medicare, we are in the top 20% of home care agencies nationwide and we were the 1st agency to see Covid patients when no one else would see them in person.

We provide care to all, including many elderly, disabled, and vulnerable individuals who lack medical knowledge. These patients are homebound and isolated, relying on us as a vital support system. Patients are frequently discharged earlier than previously and present with complex medical conditions. We regularly identify and rectify medication errors, instances of patients being discharged without essential equipment such as oxygen, and cases of patients being discharged without vital medications. We facilitate hospital transfers for patients experiencing acute medical events, including strokes, heart attacks, and hemorrhages, which represent only a portion of the challenges we address. We often manage the care of patients post-open-heart surgery, which is a complex and demanding situation. 

The closure of these agencies by WMC equates to taking away the essential HOMECARE from our communities. WMC claims that it partners with communities to prevent illness or injury but it is closing agencies that actively contribute towards this same goal. This policy change contradicts their mission to provide holistic care, and risks decreasing the quality of life of those in need of home care services.

As a first-hand witness to the life-changing support these home care agencies provide, I am compelled to urge that Westchester Medical Center retract their decision. The closing of these agencies would mean a devastating loss to countless patients who heavily rely on these services. 

WMC's choice seems to be based solely on numbers rather than considering what is best for the patients. The impact of this decision is not just a statistic - this is about the potential loss of lives and the degradation of the quality of life for many others.

Therefore, I implore you to sign this petition. Your support can help convince Westchester Medical Center to revoke their decision and thus save Good Samaritan Home Care. Let us remind WMC that lives matter beyond numbers. Your voice has power - let's use it to save our home health care. Please, sign this petition today!

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