VNA Health Care is doing its best to make its 100th anniversary a very special one in Aurora, the city where it was founded.
VNA Health Care formed in 1918 as the Aurora Child Welfare Clinic Association with the objective “of furthering the health and protection of children to the fullest degree,” according to a Dec. 6, 1918, Beacon-News article.
Now 100 years later, the nonprofit health care provider has grown into 14 clinics and serves about 72,000 people a year in the Chicago area.
In Aurora alone, the nonprofit serves 30,000 individuals annually, group officials said.
“A group of people here in Aurora started the organization with one nurse and volunteer physicians,” VNA Chief Executive Officer Linnea Windel said.
Still today, Windel said, “Aurora is our home base.”
She said she has seen a lot in her 30 years with the group.
“There has been so much change and evolution — so many exciting things we have been able to do,” she said. “It has never been boring.”
One remaining constant has been the organization’s commitment to providing care for people regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay, Windel said.
“The organization at its heart has been very action-oriented in providing what is most needed by the community at any given point in time,” she said.
Looking through minutes from early board meetings, old photos and reading different historical documents about the organization, Windel said “the idea of being of greatest service to the community and doing what is most needed has always been there.”
According to VNA’s historical records, when it was founded in 1918, the country was facing the aftermath of World War I and a deadly Spanish flu pandemic.
Each subsequent decade brought unique challenges to Aurora families, officials said.
In the 1920s, Aurora families struggled through a diphtheria epidemic and the 1930s brought the Great Depression across the country.
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During that time, Windel said, VNA nurses provided care for Aurora residents who lived in the box cars near the railroad along Eola Road.
“It is just incredible to me some of the work that the folks before us were doing,” she added.
In the 1950s, VNA nurses made home visits to every new mother and infant in Aurora.
In the 1960s, VNA obtained Medicare certification for the home health program and added school nursing and nutrition programs.
By the 1990’s VNA nurses were making more than made 80,000 home visits a year.
Over the last 15 years, VNA has expanded to include school-based health centers, dental services, psychiatry, counseling, podiatry, optometry, pharmacy, mammography and wellness services, officials said.
“We have a series of celebrations,” Windel said of VNA’s 100th anniversary, including a picnic for employees and a Founder’s Day Tea on Dec. 5 to mark the date that VNA officially formed.
“We are trying to honor the work that has gone on for decades before any of us have been here,” she said.
On June 20, VNA Health Care and Fox Valley Park District will host a Summer Fiesta, a free event that will include games, crafts, snacks and giveaways. The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 400 N. Highland Ave. in Aurora.
“It is a nice family event to welcome summer as the kids get out of school,” she said.
Children entering kindergarten, fifth or ninth grade can get their school physical at the event. Appointments are not needed, however, parents should bring the child’s immunization record. Children who complete their school physical at one of VNA’s locations in Aurora before June 30 will receive a buy one get one free admission to Splash Country Water Park, Phillips Park Aquatic Center, Blackberry Farm or Vaughan, Eola or Prisco fitness centers.
Looking toward the future, Windel said the group has “several projects underway including an expansion of VNA’s facility off Farnsworth Road that will include a wellness center.
“We also have plans to put a facility in Joliet and additional wellness centers in Elgin and Carol Stream,” she said.
For more information, call VNA Health Care at 630-892-4355 or go to www.vnahealth.com.