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Clinical Manager Recognized as an Emerging Leader in Health Care

Sara Bowdridge, RN, Clinical Services Manager at VNA Care, received the 2024 Emerging Leader Award this summer from the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts.

The award recognizes Sara’s exceptional commitment to patient-focused care as well as her strong leadership. She oversees one of the agency’s interdisciplinary home health care teams.

Catherine Frasco, MSPT, DPT, COS-C, Vice President of Home Health Operations, said, “Sara has a way of inspiring everyone around her to be their best so they can do their best for our patients. She cares deeply about her colleagues and team members, actively listens, and pays careful attention to details and processes that make all the difference in fostering a supportive workplace and exceptional outcomes for our patients.”

Sara joined VNA Care over two years ago as an Assistant Clinical Manager and was quickly promoted to Clinical Services Manager. She began her health care career more than two decades earlier in the field of occupational therapy, but had always been interested in nursing. Sara recalled when a loved one suffered a brain aneurism years ago, and she took the evening shift staying by her family member’s side in the neurocritical care unit of a Boston hospital. She was amazed by the care provided by the nursing staff and inspired to finally become a nurse herself.

While she’s worked as a nurse in a variety of settings, home health care is by far her favorite. Sara said, “As a nurse, the home setting means you’re not being called from one room to another and your beeper’s not constantly going off. You can give your undivided attention to patients, and they know we are here for them.”

She draws on her experiences providing direct patient care as she guides her team of nurses, rehabilitation therapists, social workers, and other clinicians in helping patients achieve their optimal health.

Sharon Gilgun, RN, Assistant Clinical Manager for VNA Care, has known Sara in several roles throughout their nursing careers. She shared that Sara is the epitome of grace under pressure and has the ability to deliver critical, straight-forward analyses of situations with positivity and a touch of humor.

She said, “Sara’s a force to be reckoned with in a good way. She has unbelievable leadership skills, unbelievable clinical skills, and has the greater and higher good of all as her mantra. She deserved this award more than anyone I’ve worked with in my entire career.”

 

Pictured, from left: Denise Vandini, Senior Director of Home Health Operations; Catherine Frasco, MSPT, DPT, COS-C, Vice President of Home Health Operations; Sara Bowdridge, RN, Clinical Services Manager; Sharon Gilgun, RN, Assistant Clinical Services Manager; Christine Lloyd, RN, BSN, COS-C, Senior Director of Home Health Operations, West; and Jane Pike-Benton, RN, MS, Chief Operations Officer, Chief Clinical Officer.