An Exciting New Chapter for Vinfen By Sophie Santaella, MBA, Chief Operating Officer & Interim Chief Executive Officer
I want to start by thanking Dr. Bruce Bird again for his service to Vinfen and more personally for his mentoring and partnership with me over the years. Bruce brought me back to Vinfen to serve as Chief Operating Officer 3.5 years ago and from that point we have worked shoulder- to-shoulder to strengthen and build Vinfen into one of the largest and most complex human services organizations in New England. Bruce’s impact as President and CEO will be felt at Vinfen and throughout our industry for years to come. If you have not had the opportunity to read the most recent article on Bruce’s Legacy of Care, I encourage you to do so. I am proud and honored to serve Vinfen as its Interim CEO and with our talented leadership and committed staff we are well positioned to thrive during this transitional period. We will not be standing still - the care we provide
is essential and our business does not wait for organizational change! Vinfen will continue to
focus on delivering high-quality services and integrated care to the people we serve. We will lead with our values and beliefs to ensure we strive every day to empower people with disabilities and life challenges to live meaningful lives within their communities. Over the summer you can expect a host of exciting announcements about new contracts and initiatives coming our way soon including the expansion of our outpatient clinic in Lowell to be a Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC). This center will provide not only routine and urgent outpatient services but also mobile crisis intervention as well as crisis stabilization beds for adults and youth in the Greater Lowell region. We are very excited to be expanding Vinfen’s services in this way and for the opportunity to increase access to timely behavioral health care and provide people in these communities an appropriate alternative to an unnecessary emergency department visit or hospitalization. We are taking on this project with our colleagues at Advocates and Wayside – another example of Vinfen Transforming Lives Together . But despite my optimism we do face challenges. COVID-19 continues to impact people globally and we remain diligent in safeguarding and supporting the people we serve and all our staff. In addition, Vinfen, the human services sector, and the nation at large continue to experience the most challenging workforce crisis of our time. That is why we continue to invest in permanent pay increases and share savings directly with our staff through Gainshare Payments and Retirement Plan contributions. And we continue to be one of the most prominent and outspoken voices to advocate for living wages for our direct care staff. I’ve started attending New Employee Orientation each Monday to welcome new staff to Vinfen and welcome back returning staff, and it’s so inspiring to hear about the work experience and life experience of our new employees – a highlight of my week. I believe in Vinfen - the work it does, the people we serve, and the staff that come to work every day to do this challenging, but meaningful work. Together we really do transform lives and that will continue to motivate me as I work with the Board and the leadership team to usher in a new era for Vinfen.
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