January 2025

Providing compassionate and skilled home health care

to the people of Mount Desert Island,

Trenton, and Lamoine.

A Note From Our Executive Director

Dear Supporters, Community Members, and Friends,

It is 2025! Time marches on and we welcome a new year and new challenges as we work to always prioritize caring for our neighbors at home. The landscape for health care continues to be ever-changing with new regulations and continued threats to cut funding. While this is stressful and concerning, we work each day to do the right thing for our patients. We remain committed to this guiding mission of MDNA and will always prioritize patients’ needs. As our Clinical Manager Katie Verville details in her summary, we also focus on assuring we provide high quality care as measured by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. We recently pulled our patient experience survey data and are so pleased our efforts are appreciated by our patients. From one anonymous family member: "Physical therapist Amanda is amazing and very thorough. She was firm but sweet with my dad. He really works hard for her and wants to do better because of her care."

We also welcome to our team a new full time nurse, Jolene Stanwood! She comes to us with 18 years of nursing experience, and we are thrilled to have her on our team! Our team is now 14 employees strong. As the leader of this organization, I am in awe of their good work both individually and collectively when collaborating on care.

I wish you a happy and healthy new year. Thank you for being supporters of excellent home care for all.

Sincerely,

Amy McVety, Executive Director

75^th ANNIVERSARY CAPITAL CAMPAIGN A SUCCESS!

by Mark Gauthier, 75th Anniversary Committee Chair

When our Board of Directors launched the Mount Desert Nursing Association’s 75^th Anniversary Capital Campaign in early 2024, our fundraising goal was a modest $1 million in support of our home healthcare work. That's not a big number for many island nonprofits, but it's a very meaningful one to an organization our size.

I'm pleased to say that when we rang down the curtain on the Campaign at year's end, our goal had not only been met, but slightly exceeded. On behalf of the Board, thank you to all!

It is because of the generosity of MDNA friends old and new that we were able to accomplish this. We're especially proud of the fact that support for the Campaign came from all over MDI, and many of our most generous supporters were first-time givers to MDNA. We are deeply appreciative of their help.

This remarkable organization in the Cape Cod house on the hill in Northeast Harbor has come a long way since 1949, when MDNA consisted of a single public-health nurse and her station wagon. Today, three quarters of a century later, our staff of nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and administrators works 24/7/365 caring for our families, friends, and neighbors at home. A long list of year-round and summer residents alike are included on MDNA's list of clients – and, happily, on its list of donors. They – and you – have our gratitude.

Mark Gauthier, Co-Chair

75th Anniversary Capital Campaign

Supporting Nurses, Present & Future

by Kay Rand, President of the Board of Directors

Nurses and other clinical personnel are the lifeblood of quality home health care. Like health care organizations across the country, MDNA is always challenged to hire and retain people with these essential skills.

Addressing this shortage of medical personnel is important. Each year, a student at MDI High School wanting to pursue a career in public health, a medical, or nursing field is eligible to receive a $1,000 scholarship from MDNA in memory of Ruth Jordan. Ruth provided many years of service to MDNA and other non-profits in Northeast Harbor.

When Ruth passed in 1987, she bequeathed monies to MDNA to provide these scholarships. Molly Redgate was our 2024 recipient; she is attending the University of Rhode Island and is enrolled in the nursing program. Congrats, Molly!

Ruth would be proud of Molly and her continued legacy and contribution to quality health care. MDNA is proud to be an instrument of that legacy.

MDNA staff serving lunch at The Community Cafe at The Neighborhood House on January 16th. Nurse Jolene also gave a free blood pressure clinic. Great to see so many neighbors and friends!

Thanks to those who joined us at the Northeast Harbor Christmas Festival on December 7th! We had a great time decorating cookies and sipping hot coca before Santa's Workshop began at the Neighborhood House. Thank you to Mount Dessert Bakery for the delicious sugar cookies!

Vote Now!

Quality Plan Growth in 2024

by Katie Verville, Clinical Manager

At MDNA we work hard each day to provide compassionate and quality care. While our 100% patient feedback rating speaks for itself, in 2024, we made significant improvement in each individual item outlined in our Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) plan. The results from this data yielded: improvement in medication management score from 73 to 77.2, improvement in ambulation from 81.2 to 82.1, improvement in bed transfer from 82.3 to 85.6, improvement in bathing from 78.5 to 85.6, and improvement in dyspnea from 51.7 to 73. In 2025, we will strive to achieve a 3.5-star rating, while continuing to focus on the areas outlined in the 2024 QAPI - with a new refined focus on patients returning back to the hospital. I am feeling confident and excited about the QAPI plan for 2025 and our ability to improve our star rating. We are off to a strong start!

Welcome, Jolene Stanwood, to MDNA!

We are very excited to welcome Jolene Stanwood, RN to our team! Jolene lives in Steuben with her chocolate lab, Willow. She has been a nurse for over 18 years in both Maine and Virginia, specializing in pediatric home health, psychiatric, and mental health with experience in skilled nursing and rehab facilities.

On the weekend, she loves reading, hiking with Willow, and playing the guitar. Welcome, Jolene - we are lucky and thrilled to have you!

We rely on individual donations to continue our work of providing home health care to all in need. Every dollar goes toward providing direct health services.

Donate Now

Save the Date!

3rd Annual Chowdah Fest & Silent Auction

Monday, March 31st from 5:00pm-6:30pm

The Neighborhood House, Northeast Harbor

Tickets - $12 per person at the door

See you for another delicious & fun-filled evening with chowder tasting from local restaurants, silent auction with artwork from local artists, and live music!