IV 

107TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 481

Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be established a 

National Visiting Nurse Associations Week. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2002

Mr. MARKEY submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Government Reform 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Congress that there should be 

established a National Visiting Nurse Associations Week.

Whereas visiting nurse associations (VNAs) are nonprofit 

home health agencies that, for over 120 years, have been 

united in their mission to provide cost-effective and compassionate home and community-based health care to individuals, regardless of the individuals’ condition or ability to pay for services; 

Whereas there are more than 500 visiting nurse associations, 

which employ more than 90,000 clinicians, provide health 

care to more than 4,000,000 people each year, and provide a critical safety net in communities by developing a 

network of community support services that enable individuals to live independently at home; 
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•HCON 481 IH 

Whereas visiting nurse associations have historically served as 

primary public health care providers in their communities, and are today one of the largest providers of mass 

immunizations in the medicare program (delivering over 

2,500,000 influenza immunizations annually); 

Whereas visiting nurse associations are often the home health 

providers of last resort, serving the most chronic of conditions (such as congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, AIDS, and quadriplegia) and individuals with the least ability to pay for services (more 

than 50 percent of all medicaid home health admissions 

are by visiting nurse associations); 

Whereas any visiting nurse association budget surplus is reinvested in supporting the association’s mission through 

services, including charity care, adult day care centers, 

wellness clinics, Meals-on-Wheels, and immunization programs; 

Whereas visiting nurse associations and other nonprofit home 

health agencies care for the highest percentage of terminally ill and bedridden patients; 

Whereas thousands of visiting nurse association volunteers 

across the Nation devote time serving as individual agency board members, raising funds, visiting patients in 

their homes, assisting in wellness clinics, and delivering 

meals to patients; and 

Whereas the establishment of a National Visiting Nurse Associations Week for the second full week of every February would increase public awareness of the charitybased missions of visiting nurse associations and of their 

ability to meet the needs of chronically ill and disabled 

individuals who prefer to live at home rather than in a 
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•HCON 481 IH 

nursing home, and would spotlight preventive health clinics, adult day care programs, and other customized 

wellness programs that meet local community need: Now, 

therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that there 

3 should be established a National Visiting Nurse Associa4 tions Week.

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