Colorado Visiting Nurse Association Press Release – May 11, 2015

Colorado Visiting Nurse Association Hires CEO

DENVER, CO (May 11, 2015) – Colorado Visiting Nurse Association (Colorado VNA), a nonprofit home health care agency, is delighted to announce that its Board of Directors has appointed Christopher Lee as President and Chief Executive Officer. Former President and CEO Laura Reilly retired this past February.
“Chris is a natural choice for this position,” commented Colorado VNA Board Chair Nedra Downing. “He brings a fresh perspective to our mission and business acumen along with his background in home health care.”

Lee has extensive experience in home health and healthcare administration. His deep expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, business development, electronic medical record implementation, and Lean performance improvement and operations management. Most recently, Lee served as the General Manager of SCL Health Solutions, LLC, SCL Health’s home health service line. In this position Chris was responsible for the
acquisition, integration, and expansion of a home health agency in Denver. SCL Home Health expanded by over 40% under his leadership while also decreasing readmissions for complex patients discharged from SCL’s Front Range hospitals. In addition, Lee has held leadership positions with Exempla Healthcare including serving on the leadership team that opened Good Samaritan Medical Center.
Lee joins Colorado VNA at an opportune time. “The impending ‘silver tsunami’ – the dramatic growth of the senior population over the next 15 years – has vast implications for home health agencies such as ours,” he noted.
“Reports estimate that as many as 70% of Americans who reach age 65 will need some form of long-term care, and increasingly supportive care in the home is seen as a viable alternative to a skilled nursing facility. Colorado VNA plans to build on its 125 years of compassionate and quality care so that we can meet the demands of the expanding elderly population. I am thrilled to lead such a venerable institution.”
ABOUT COLORADO VISITING NURSE ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1889 as the Denver Flower Mission, Colorado Visiting Nurse Association has grown to become the state’s largest home health care agency, providing 200,000 visits per year. Colorado Visiting Nurse Association’s compassionate, dedicated, and experienced healthcare professionals are recognized for their expert, personal medical attention and for their strong tradition of ensuring continuity of care while creating warm relationships with patients. In both 2013 and 2014, Colorado VNA was awarded Home Care Elite Status by the National Research Corporation for placing in the top 25% of home care agencies based on health performance measures.
www.vnacolorado.org
Media Contact: Jodie Deshmukh, Development Manager
deshmukhj@vnacolorado.org
303.698.6308