Latest news with #NurseFamilyPartnership
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Multnomah County nurse program sounds alarm after being cut from proposed budget
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Several Multnomah County programs are looking at serious cuts in the new proposed budget. But some, like the Nurse Family Partnership program, would be completely eliminated. NFP pairs someone who is pregnant with a nurse who visits them at their home during the pregnancy and then for the first two years of the baby's life. They also connect families to health services or give health assessments. 'Disgusted': DA Vasquez reacts to Multnomah County's latest budget proposal County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said her budget is built to prioritize direct services, or those most important to the people who need to rely on the county. Hannah Snyder is a nurse who works in the NFP program and she said not only is it a direct service, but it is essential. 'We serve a population that is really at the highest risk of being left behind by our healthcare system,' she said. 'And so we are able to, through kind of building relationships with them, help them kind of meet those goals that they have for themselves.' Snyder said they serve low income people, those facing housing insecurity, refugees, or even people who have had negative healthcare experiences in the past. Wyden asks Trump administration officials to reconsider travel policies ahead of the World Cup 'It helps to work with people who – not only are facing that major transition into parenthood that everybody finds to be difficult – but they have a lot of other barriers facing them.' When talking to media on Thursday, Vega Pederson said she knows a lot of people probably will not be happy with the proposal. 'There were cuts to programs that have an impact,' Vega Pederson said. 'And areas of service that we know are important, whether it is health-related programs or human services related programs. This is the reality when we have a budget deficit.' Snyder said the NFP program actually helps save money. A University of Utah study on NFP in Oregon even shows every dollar invested saves over six dollars in future costs for those vulnerable populations. NFP-Oregon-Research-BriefDownload Although Snyder said emergency care visits, prisons and jails are all expensive things for the community, she notes NFP can reduce those costs down the road. 'People are really able to transform their own lives with just a little bit of extra support and with a nice, trusting relationship that happens over the long term,' she said. 'And so the prevention that can happen before a child is born. And in those first two years of life, it can really shape the whole lifetime of that family.' Snyder added that, until the board votes on the budget, the nurses are bringing a lot of attention to the issue with petitions. Plus, they plan to attend county commission hearings. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Marx critical of YNHH plan to end visiting nurse progams
State Sen. Martha Marx, D-New London, on Monday decried Yale New Haven Health's plan to end certain visiting nurse programs in southeastern Connecticut, saying the decision 'is one seeking short-term gain at the expense of long-term community pain.' Yale New Haven Health informed employees Friday that it will end its wellness and Nurse Family Partnership programs in seven towns at the end of June, when current contracts expire. The move will displace eight employees, including six union nurses (four full-timers, one part-timer and one working on a per diem basis), a manager and an administrative employee, according to Fiona Phelan, a YNHH spokeswoman. 'YNHH has taken away some very important services that don't just provide unique benefits but are directly vital in the towns they're offered,' Marx said in a statement. 'In addition to the potential layoffs this decision will bring for nurses, these programs will leave vital services unfulfilled in our communities, leaving patients and community needs unmet and in some instances sharply reducing the quality of care homebound and disabled patients will receive.' 'The federal government working to slash important programs is bad enough,' she said. For Yale to cut them further in our backyard is going to worsen already severe impacts.' Marx, Senate vice chairwoman of the legislature's Public Health Committee, is a member and past president of Local 5119 of the American Federation of Teachers, the union representing members of the organization formerly known as the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut. Yale New Haven Health renamed the association Yale New Haven Health-Health at Home–Southeast. The Health at Home wellness program provides nursing services at municipal locations, such as senior centers, in East Lyme, Groton, New London, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Stonington and Waterford, according to Phelan. Under a contract with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, the Nurse Family Partnership program sends nurses into the homes of at-risk pregnant mothers and follows the mother and baby from pregnancy to delivery through three years of age. 'Any decision to change a service that is being provided to the community and involves employees is extremely difficult, but we need to focus on our core mission of caring for our patients in hospital and home settings,' Phelan said. 'We are making the announcement approximately five months prior to the end of the program in order to allow our Human Resources staff to support each of the eight employees impacted in finding a new position within our health system or elsewhere. Providing this amount of time will also allow our communities to develop a plan for the future with as much time as possible.' In an unrelated matter, Phelan said YNHH is transitioning oncology care from the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Westerly to the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Waterford. Current and new cancer patients who see their doctor in Westerly for routine appointments and consultations will continue to do so in Westerly. The move has no impact on staffing at either location, Phelan said.
