Chris Lee (Colorado VNA CEO) and Lori Follett (Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer)

Colorado Visiting Nurse Association (Colorado VNA) and Northern Colorado’s Rehabilitation & Visiting Nurse Association (RVNA) have officially merged their operations effective May 1st after a year of board discussions and a final vote of approval back in February.

Founded in 1889, Colorado VNA began as a Denver-based charity care organization and has expanded to provide a full continuum of care to individuals and families in 15 Front Range counties. RVNA has provided home health, home making, and wellness services to Larimer and Weld county residents for almost 37 years.

“This merger comes at a crucial time for our two organizations as we work to ensure our future success in this ever-changing healthcare environment. Both of our agencies have a long history of serving our respective communities and both have a stellar reputation for clinical excellence,” states Colorado VNA CEO Chris Lee. “Patients across the Front Range will benefit from organizational synergies and a shared commitment from all of our employees to provide the highest quality and most compassionate care.”

Colorado VNA Director of Human Resources, Brenda Garrett, adds, “By centralizing the back office administration in Denver we can focus on expanding our services throughout our entire service area, but especially in Northern Colorado’s rural communities. The combined Colorado Visiting Nurse Association will have over 500 employees and plans to grow services that will create additional talent recruitment opportunities.”

In 2015, the two nonprofit agencies served a combined total of 29,000 patients with 268,000 care touchpoints. In addition, the agencies provided free-and reduced-cost health, wellness, and preventative care to more than 600 low-income households to help them maintain independence in their homes. Community wellness services such as flu immunizations, foot care clinics, and health education programs have also been cornerstones of both organizations. Colorado VNA is a 24 million dollar agency and with the merger the combined agency is expected to be at 28 million dollars in revenue.

Rehabilitation and Visiting Nurse Association will change its name to Colorado VNA Northern Colorado Division but operations and personnel will remain the same in the Greeley office. Current RVNA CEO, Lori Follett, will transition into her new position as Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer. “I am excited to see this partnership come to fruition as our patients, partners and employees will undoubtedly reap the benefits of improved processes and technologies. This collaboration is truly a win-win for everyone involved.”

###

About Colorado VNA
Colorado Visiting Nurse Association (Colorado VNA) is a nonprofit, Medicare-certified home health organization founded in 1889. Its mission is to provide a continuum of health care in the home and community that supports optimal well-being, independence, and dignity. The organization’s comprehensive array of health services spans all levels of intensity of care for individuals, communities, and businesses. Colorado VNA has also developed innovative community programs to help seniors age-in-place. For more information, visit www.VNAColorado.org.