Our Beginnings

The Natick Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) was organized in 1899, six years after the first VNA was founded in New York City. Mr. William Coolidge of Natick, who had experienced this type of home care for his son in New York, Miss Nellie Wilson, and Mrs. James D. Macewen, personally solicited the funds to found the Natick VNA.

Its original purpose “to provide the services of a trained nurse for all sick people otherwise unable to procure them, and to promote the welfare of the family by instructions in the simple rules of health and sanitation.” Mr. Macewen furnished a horse, carriage, sleigh and coachman for two years to carry the agency’s first nurse, Miss Nellie Daniels, to patients when the weather was inclement or the distance was too far for her to walk.

Our First Visits

On November 12, 1914, the Natick VNA was incorporated, “to give to the sick, and especially those of limited means, the service of a trained nurse and to give instructions in home nursing and wholesome living.” This basic mission has continued, though it has been reviewed and revised by the agency’s Board of Trustees to keep it current and relevant.

In 1952, Mr. Charles G. Bancroft of Framingham donated a family home at 33 West Central Street, Natick, as a gift to the Natick VNA, in memory of his brother, Dr. George A. Bancroft, who himself had been a very charitable, well-loved individual. Much work was done over many months to restore and update the property. Over the years, the building served as home to not only the Natick VNA, but also to Natick’s Board of Health, the Girl Scouts, the South Middlesex Association for Retarded Citizens, the United Community Service, the Natick Service Council, and the Red Cross. This historic property, which was also been the residence of Henry Wilson, the 22nd Vice President of the United States, from 1853 to 1875, remained the home of the Natick VNA until the agency outgrew its space and moved to its present headquarters in 1991. The Natick VNA continued to own the property at 33 West Central Street and used it for extra office, meeting, and training space until it was sold early in 2003.

Expanded Specialties

We have been certified to provide home health care to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries since 1966, when these two government programs were established; and with the advent of Medicare and Medicaid, home health care as an industry grew rapidly. Beginning in the mid-sixties, home care could be paid for through these government insurance plans, as well as other private insurance plans. This helped to increase the numbers of people the agency could serve, as well as the types of services that could be provided. While the name of the organization (visiting “nurse”) reflects the first and still major discipline offered, the VNA has added home care aides, rehabilitation therapists (physical, occupational and speech), medical social workers, and registered dietitians to its staff. Specialties within all of those disciplines have also grown, such as special care for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and specialized wound and ostomy care, among other areas of concentration. 

Over the past 25 years the Natick VNA has expanded its territory to include not just Natick, but more than 20 other communities that comprise MetroWest and towns surrounding it. Staffing at the VNA increased from 15 to more than 125 employees to keep up with the growing demand for home care. In addition, our annual operating budget of the VNA has grown from approximately $300,000 to almost nine million. The agency now serves more than 2,000 individuals each year, providing a wide range of home care services.

New Technologies

We have also pioneered new technologies, from automating our financial and billing systems in 1984 to becoming the first home care agency in the country to help develop and implement a totally web-based clinical documentation and billing system in 2002. Over the past three years, the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation has supported the Natick VNA’s home telemonitoring program for patients dealing with chronic illnesses, and its MetroWest Meds program, established to assist patients in securing prescription medications at low cost or no cost. Both programs are unique in MetroWest and contribute to the Natick VNA’s position as a highly respected home health provider.

Our strategic plan will help to assure our continued presence and prominence in the MetroWest region for years to come.