RVNA, the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association, is delighted to announce that Melissa Woodhouse, RRT, MOT, OTR/L, CDP, has been promoted to Director of HomeCare and Client Services. HomeCare by RVNA is the agency's non-medical service line, offering live-in and hourly caregivers to help clients with household tasks and personal care.
In her new role, Woodhouse will be responsible for the overall direction and management of the HomeCare service while continuing to be responsible for the Centralized Care Coordination team.
"Our HomeCare clients and caregivers are very important to us," says Theresa Santoro, RVNA president and CEO, "and our knowledge of, and experience with, Melissa gives us great confidence about the future of this service and the quality of care and service we offer to our clients."
Woodhouse joined RVNA in 2014 as an occupational therapist, arriving with several years of experience as both a respiratory and occupational therapist in sites as varied as hospital emergency rooms, rehab facilities, patient homes, and -- of course -- the Life Star critical care helicopter out of Hartford Hospital.
Woodhouse was promoted to Rehab Manager in 2017 and assumed management of the centralized care coordination department in early 2018. The care coordination team is responsible for giving RVNA patients and clients the help and guidance they need — right from the first phone call, or as soon as they walk in the door.
Melissa brings a depth of clinical, management, and customer service skills to her work, as well as an adept and creative problem-solving ability, a strength she honed working one-on-one with patients in their homes, helping them return to their activities of daily living.
Woodhouse holds a Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy and a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences, both from Quinnipiac University in Hamden CT. Woodhouse also holds an associate's degree in Respiratory Therapy.
"I truly love patient and client contact and helping patients get the help they need on every level," says Woodhouse. "I have relished and learned from all of my roles at RVNA, from being an in-home occupational therapist, to Rehab Manager, and most recently re-constructing the care coordination team. I understand the excellence that our clients expect and require, and I am committed to delivering that in our HomeCare offering."
Woodhouse grew up in Brookfield, CT and is raising her own family there as well. Melissa and her husband, Ben, a Physician Assistant, have two daughters, Brooke, 4, and Charlotte, 2.
To learn more about Melissa Woodhouse or HomeCare by RVNA, please call 203-438-5555 or visit ridgefieldvna.org.