The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends Today, by Order of HHS

May 11, 2023

Dear Colleagues,

At the end of today, May 11, the COVID-19 public health emergency will expire by order of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Back in March, 2020, our lives changed virtually overnight. Clinicians and home health aides had to learn how to wear gowns, masks, face shields, gloves and more, and this PPE became a part of every visit. At the same time, office team members had to quickly pivot to working remotely. We all had to master new protocols, including daily checks for COVID symptoms. 

Across VNS Health, we had to embrace a new workplace culture as well as new technologies and skills, ranging from patient screening techniques to Zoom meetings. At the same time, we set up our own in-house vaccine clinic, ultimately vaccinating more than 9,000 people.  

Throughout this long journey, just as with every crisis we’ve faced over VNS Health’s 130 years, we continually persevered and never lost sight of our mission. Just as important, we held fast to our Core Values of Empathy, Agility and Integrity—which played no small part in helping us get through this pandemic.

Sadly, we’ve lost colleagues to COVID-19, and so many lost loved ones as well. Almost all of us fell ill from it ourselves, and everyone’s lives have been disrupted. Today, while we aren’t fully out of the COVID-19 woods yet, we’ve reached a far better place than we were two or three years ago. 

During the darkest days of the pandemic, Marki Flannery started a tradition that I then continued, where we would share an inspirational quote each morning to all team members. I’d like to leave you with one of those quotes today. It’s by the actor Christopher Reeve, who played Superman in the Superman movies. Christopher Reeve said, “I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

I will always be so proud of how each of you rose to meet this historic challenge. Thank you, everyone, for your dedication to our mission, and for your commitment to each other and to those we serve. 

You are all heroes!

Dan Savitt, President and Chief Executive Officer