Monterey, CA Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) Offers Wide Variety Of Services

View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

There are so many non-profits here on the Monterey Peninsula that residents sometimes have a hard time discovering where to go for various services.  I was glad to see that our local paper, Off 68, has been profiling a lot of non-profits recently, with the Central Coast Visiting Nurses Association & Hospice (VNA) the most recent.  I used VNA Hospice when my grandmother was in her final days, and they have some great caring people.  Their hospice program has been around for 15 years, but that's just a small part of what they do.  The VNA's services are quite diverse and include skilled nursing care, physical, occupational and speech therapy, medical social workers and home health aides.  They have clinical specialists in the diabetic, cardiac, wound care/ostomy care areas as well as palliative care, home infusion therapy and orthopedic post-surgical rehabilitation.  They also have programs which provide wellness programs, flu clinics, international travel immunization and school health services.  It still has an adult day-care center, but the VNA had to cut back from two to one, closing the facility in Salinas.  It's an important mission they are carrying out, and I was sad to see the Salinas center closed.  I knew a number of seniors who went to Salinas and now travel to the Monterey adult day care center.  Like most non-profits, VNA has been squeezed by the recession as well as government funding as they accept Medicare and Medi-Cal, which have been cutting back on payments.