Caring Award Winner
Geraldine Singleton, Home Health Aide
Visiting Nurse Service of New York
New York City
Of the 10,000-plus home health aides (HHAs) at Partners in Care, Geraldine Singleton is one of a select few who have been with the agency since its merger with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York in 1983.
Her career spans an amazing four decades, making her the organization’s second-longest-serving home health aide!
Her first client was Samuel, an elderly gentleman who lived in Astoria, Queens. A man of good cheer, despite his heart and kidney problems, he loved smoking cigars and keeping up with the horse races. Their relationship was one of mutual affection and respect. “I didn’t know a thing about horse racing before caring for Samuel,” she says, eventually coming to learn “just about all there was to know about the sport!”
Over the years she also learned to cook Barbadian food … because one of her patients – a grandmother from Barbados in Elmhurst with diabetes and a heart ailment – was growing frailer for lack of an appetite. With Ms. Singleton’s culinary intervention, the patient soon gained weight, chatting enthusiastically about life in Barbados, and feeling more comfortable month by month.
“Watching her regain her interest in living gave me great pleasure over the eight years I cared for her,” says Ms. Singleton. “I like nothing better than seeing my patients thrive.”
“Geraldine’s dedication, professionalism, and compassion for the patients she cares for are a testament to the important role the home health aide plays in an integrated home care team,” observes Jennifer Brullo, Senior Vice President of Partners in Care.
The Caring Award
The Caring Award recognizes a staff person of an agency who has exhibited the compassion, skills and service that sets his or her contribution apart and/or whose actions on a particular day or over a period of time exemplify caring in home care.