Visiting Nurse Service of New York Conducts Student Film Contest in Honor of 25th Anniversary of Hospice Program

Business Wire, June 3, 2008

Voting Phase of Contest Now Underway Online

NEW YORK -- In honor of its 25th anniversary of providing compassionate and supportive end-of-life care, Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) matched student filmmakers with hospice patients in the VNSNY Living History Project: Independent Short Film Contest. The competition challenged New York film students to create VNSNY Hospice patient portraits representing memories of lives well lived. The public can view these films and vote for their favorite by clicking on the VNSNY link at www.independentfeatures.com until June 30.

"The purpose of this film project is to give the New York community a very different understanding of hospice than they currently have. Hospice provides an environment in which people can live and enjoy a higher quality of life during the last weeks or months of their lives," explains Jeanne Dennis, executive director of VNSNY Hospice. "Our hope is to dispel the many myths that New Yorkers have about Hospice as a time of suffering and unhappiness. While this can be the case with end of life, Hospice care is about providing something quite different."

The five finalists that receive the most votes will have their films screened at the Independent Features Film Festival (IFFF) at Tribeca Cinemas in New York City from July 25 - 27. The winning film chosen from the five finalists will be selected by a panel of judges and announced during the IFFF film festival on July 27. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000 towards his or her education.

Eligible schools include: Columbia University, Brooklyn College, Staten Island College, Hunter College, City College of New York, the New York Film Academy and New York University.

About Visiting Nurse Service of New York

With over 10,000 highly skilled care providers, VNSNY is the largest not-for-profit home health care organization in the nation. In 2007, we provided 2,248,000 professional home visits to more than 131, 600 patients from pre-natal to end-of-life care as well as bereavement services. Licensed by the New York State Department of Health, VNSNY is fully accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) of the National League for Nursing. The agency was established in 1893 by Lillian D. Wald, the founder of public health nursing in the United States. Today, VNSNY is the parent organization of several not-for-profit companies whose staff provide and coordinate the care of patients residing throughout New York City, Westchester and Nassau County. For more information on VNSNY, visit www.vnsny.org.