Honoring Those Who Care for Greenwich's Elderly and Ill

It was a reunion of sorts Tuesday at Greenwich Town Hall — a group of nurses who collectively have decades of experience helping the ill and infirm.

The occasion was the formal declaration of National Nurses Week that celebrated the dedication of the hundreds of nurses who care for Greenwich residents — in private settings and in the public health arenas.

Public health nurse, administrator and health consultant Stephanie Paulmeno organized the event that drew together representatives from nearly all aspects of nursing in Greenwich.

Among those attending were Carol Burns, the executive director of Greenwich’s River House adult day care center, Deb Traverse, the director of family health for the town of Greenwich Health Department; Carol Kellogg, director of infection prevention and staff development at the town-owned The Nathaniel Witherell nursing home; Nancy Tar, a nurse a The Mews assisted living center; Gloria Mackey, assistant director of nursing at The Nathaniel Witherell; Victoria Sybelnik of Stirling Health Care; Barbara Bonfiglio, Greenwich Woods director of nursing, and Carol Kellogg, director of infection prevention and staff development at The Nathaniel Witherell.

First Selectman Peter Tesei presented the women with a copy of the town proclamation he signed that honored their dedication to their patients. “It’s the nurses who really are at the front line of health care,” said Tesei, whose wife Jill is a nurse with a cognitive behavioral therapy practice in town.

Paulmeno, who arranged for roses and decadent chocolates for her nursing colleagues,  said that the Affordable Care Act has allowed nurses to train under the auspices of physicians and then strike out on their own, establishing practices that allow patients to receive quality health care.

As the group dissembled in the Town Hall Meeting Room after a photo op, Paulmeno reminded her colleagues, “One in 59 people in Connecticut is a nurse.”

Amid gales of laughter, one of them quipped, “old nurses never die.”

And thank God they don’t.

Photos: #1: Greenwich public health nurses with first Selectman Peter Tesei, seated are Victoria Sybelnik of Stirling Health Care; Gloria Mackey, assistant director nursing at The Nathaniel Witherell, and Barbara Bonfiglio, Greenwich Woods director of nursing; Standing, from left, are Carol Kellogg, director of infection prevention and staff development at The Nathaniel Witherell; Deb Traverse, the director of family health for the town of Greenwich Health Department; Tesei; Stephanie Paulmeno; Nancy Tar, a nurse at The Mews; and Carol Burns, executive director of River House.

#2: Stephanie Paulmeno with First Selectman Peter Tesei.

Credits: Barbara Heins.