Visiting Nurses

A brief history of the OLVNA

The Old Lyme Visiting Nurse Association was founded in 1922 under the auspices of the American Red Cross. Its early focus was on three community needs: high infant mortality, home health care, and health-hygiene instruction. In the 1940s, following the withdrawal of the National Red Cross from public health nursing services, Old Lyme’s chapter was incorporated as the Old Lyme Visiting Nurse Association, with its own constitution, bylaws, and membership.

In 1964, with the advent of Medicare and resulting state and federal regulations, the OLVNA found that it would be difficult to continue operating on its own. As a result, it entered into a contract with the East Lyme Visiting Nurse Association. However, in 1983 the decision was made to return to the original concept of local autonomy, by buying services from a local home health agency: first, Medical Personnel Pool, and later, Interim HealthCare. In 2017 we became affiliated with the Waterford-based Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut.

With the past century’s spectacular advances in medicine and life expectancy, the Old Lyme Visiting Nurse Association has shifted its emphasis toward community health, prevention, and coordination of care. In recent years many of our day-to-day services have been focused on seniors, allowing older people to remain in their homes in this community. We also provide special health events such as Flu and Wellness clinics.

The OLVNA welcomed Denise Piersa as our Town Nurse in 2020. Her two most recent predecessors were Karen Veselka (2014-2020) and Linda Camarra (1984-2014). Earlier Town Nurses included Kathy Bartus, May Swift, Gail Blaine, Helen Weidler, Mary Noyes, Irma Horton, Charlotte Byden, Helen Streeter, Charlotte Coleord, Mary Champion, Enid Sheffield, Alice Thompson, and Winifred Weake. Old Lyme has benefited enormously from the services of all these dedicated women.

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