STAFFING CUTS: VNS Health, a health and social service provider, is laying off 34 employees at its E. 42nd St. office, according to a filing with the state Department of Labor. The cuts will impact phone operators, not clinicians providing care in the home, according to a VNS Executive Vice President and Chief Provider of Services David Rosales. The terminations “will enable us to make more care management and clinical decisions closer to the point of care for our patients,” Rosales says. VNS Health employed 1,115 individuals in 2023, according to tax filings.
INFECTIOUS DISEASE PREP: Bellevue Hospital is partnering with a public health agency in South Korea to improve infectious disease preparedness, New York City Health + Hospitals said Thursday. Bellevue signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Medical Center, an affiliate of South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare, to outline protocols for information-sharing and clinical research collaborations, according to the hospital. The move is the first international partnership for Bellevue’s special pathogens program, which mitigates infectious disease outbreaks.
