Senator Skelos Committed to Home Care

Visits home care patient in Rockville Centre

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY (05/04/2007)(readMedia)-- State Senator and longtime home care supporter, Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), today paid a visit to home care recipient Lena Brasacchio to see first-hand the value of home care for his constituents and all New Yorkers.

Mrs. Brasacchio has been receiving home care services since December 2006. Thanks to home care she remains in her own home as opposed to an institutional setting. She is visited by a home health aide five days a week for approximately four hours each day and receives personal care services such as cooking and other daily chores. Mrs. Brasacchio enjoys watching cooking shows and classic American movies and gets along very well with her aide.

Providing cost-efficient and quality health care is a major concern for many New Yorkers, which is why Senator Skelos took advantage of “Home Care Connect,” a home care visitation program sponsored by the New York State Association of Health Care Providers, Inc. (HCP). Home Care Connect provides State and Federal Legislators the opportunity to observe the benefits of home and community-based care in action.

“I am very happy to have been able to visit with Mrs. Brasacchio,” said Senator Skelos. “Home and community-based care is an important piece of our state’s health care system. Quality health care choices are needed to ensure that people such as Mrs. Brasacchio have the ability to receive access to affordable care in the comfort of their own home.”

Diane Contino, Vice President of Utopia Home Care, Inc., said, “Home care gives Mrs. Brasacchio and thousands like her a chance to reside in comfortable surroundings with family and friends by her side. It’s amazing to see the difference home care can make in the lives of recipients and their family. I thank Senator Skelos for his commitment to home care.”

“With the help of Senator Skelos, access to home care has continued to increase in New York,” said HCP President Phyllis Wang. “Patients like Mrs. Brasacchio are able to remain at home in their own community thanks to the support the Senator has provided for the industry during his time in the State Legislature. I’m pleased that he was able to visit a home care recipient to see first-hand the results of his support.”

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HCP is a statewide trade association representing the full spectrum of home care and hospice agencies in New York.

High-resolution photos available upon request