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Kennedys to Serve as Honorary Co-Chairs at VNA of South Central CT's Nightingale Awards

New Haven (April 7, 2014) – John R. Quinn, President & CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association of South Central Connecticut (VNA/SCC), recently announced that Kiki and Ted Kennedy, Jr. were named as Honorary Co-Chairs for the 2014 Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing, which will be held on Thursday, May 8, 2014 at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven.

The Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing program was originally developed by the VNA/SCC to be a collaborative effort to celebrate outstanding nurses and elevate the nursing profession. The goals of the program are to encourage retention, inspire future nurses, focus public attention and recognize the breadth and scope of nursing practice at the local level.

“We are extremely honored that Ted and Kiki Kennedy would once again lend their support and leadership to the 2014 Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing like they have done at VNA/SCC events since 2011” says VNA/SCC President & CEO John R. Quinn, “they are both knowledgeable about our health care system in Connecticut and they have the highest respect and regard for the nursing profession. Their mere presence at the Nightingale Awards is a tribute to those nurses we honor and will make the nurse’s evening a very special and memorable event.”

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Ted Kennedy Jr. is a Partner in the national law firm of Epstein Becker Green in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice of the firm’s Stamford, Connecticut offices. Prior to joining Epstein Becker Green as a health care regulatory attorney, Ted co-founded and served as President of the Marwood Group, a healthcare focused financial services firm. Previously, Mr. Kennedy served as Counsel to the law firm of Wiggin & Dana in New Haven, where his health law practice focused primarily on state and federal regulatory and reimbursement issues affecting hospitals, home care agencies, long-term providers, physicians, and mental health providers. In addition, Mr. Kennedy served as Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs at the Connecticut Hospital Association, counseling acute care providers and policy-makers on a wide variety of emerging health care issues. Ted has also dedicated his life as a lawyer fighting for the rights of people with disabilities. For the past 15 years, he has served as a board member of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the country’s largest disability civil rights and public policy organization. Earlier in his career, Ted served on the board of Connecticut’s Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, the Executive Committee of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and the board of Special Olympics International. Ted has also been active in Connecticut’s efforts to address pediatric lead poisoning, an unfortunate example of environmental injustice and one of the leading known causes of intellectual disability. Ted was also the recipient of the President’s Award at the 2013 Visiting Nurse Association of South Central Connecticut’s Annual Meeting

Dr. Katherine “Kiki” Kennedy supervises residents and teaches psychotherapy as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Yale University, and sees patients in her private psychiatry practice in New Haven. As a Board Member for several non-profit organizations, Dr. Kennedy is a supporter of and advocate for health care issues, the environment, and the arts.

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For more information about the Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing, including sponsorship information and how to purchase tickets, visit the Nightingale website at http://www.nightingalenursingawards.org/index.php/home-newhaven or call the Nightingale hotline at 203-859-6765.

To make a contribution to the VNA/SCC in support of this important event, please contact Melissa Healy, Community Development Specialist, at 203-859-6054.

The Evolution of the Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing

 

The Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing program was developed in 2001 out of a desire to celebrate and elevate the nursing profession. As a nursing organization with more than a century of service, the Visiting Nurse Association of South Central Connecticut (VNA/SCC) took the lead in creating the award ceremony. The Nightingale vision was quickly embraced by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Yale-New Haven Hospital and The Hospital of Saint Raphael, whose financial support brought the idea to fruition.

In 2003, the program grew to include concurrent galas in the Hartford, Norwich-New London, and Stamford regions, as well as the original program in New Haven. The Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing is open and inclusive of all health care settings—hospitals, home health care, health centers, schools, health departments, long-term care, nursing schools, medical practices and more. In 2014 the Nightingale Awards for Excellence in Nursing will be held in three locations; Hartford, New Haven, and New London.

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