History of Croí Health

Croí first opened its doors in 1920—car doors, that is. The mission of one single nurse traveling around the town of Norwell to visit homebound patients in the wake of the flu pandemic has traversed an entire century.

It is now a vibrant organization bringing compassionate care to the region. Our future involves the highest level of care in all our disciplines: nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, home health aides, social work, and spiritual care.

1920


Amy Sylvester founds the Norwell Visiting Nurse Association. She sells pies at the Marshfield Fair to help raise funds.

 

1920

1921

Nurse Marian Sauer makes 750 visits.

1921

1923

Nurse Catherine Roe is hired as a school and community nurse and will serve for more than 50 years until 1975. A nursing visit costs 50 cents in 1924.

 

1923

1928

A Diphtheria Clinic is established.

1928

1933

The future site of the Pat Roche Hospice Home is built atop Turkey Hill in Hingham by the Thayer Family as their summer home

 

1933

1935

The VNA nurse has an office in town hall.

1935

1950s

The fee for a nursing visit increases to $1. Physical therapy services are added. Nurses give the Salk polio vaccine in 1956.

1950s

1985

The VNA becomes a Medicare-certified agency.

1985

1986

Meg Doherty RN becomes full time director and oversees unprecedented expansion.

1986

1992

The first computer records system is installed. Doherty becomes chair of the state board of registration in nursing. The VNA hires six new nurses, has outgrown two rooms in town hall and moves into larger quarters in Cushing Memorial Hall. Some 87 percent of patients are 65 and older.

1992

1994

Norwell and eight other VNAs agree to share resources while remaining autonomous.

1994

1997

The federal Balanced Budget Act cuts funding. Many agencies close or merge. Eight VNAs serving 23 South Shore towns merge into the Affiliated Community Visiting Nurse Association. The Norwell VNA decides not to merge with the others. Instead Norwell partners with a physicians group, takes out a loan and expands with a new office in Scituate Harbor.

1997

1998

The demand for VNA services continues to grow as medical centers release patients earlier under new guidelines.

1998

1999

The VNA reports its surplus shrank from $246,000 in 1997 to $64,000 in 1998 because of cuts in home health care for Medicare patients.

1999

2000

Joan Wright begins a support group for families coping with Alzheimer’s disease.

2000

2001

The VNA begins an innovative program counseling diabetics via the Internet; other telemedicine programs follow.

2001

2003

The Friends of the VNA donate automated external defibrillators to two schools in Norwell and launches “Heartbeat,” a half-hour health program on WATD

2003

2005

Community leaders Ralph and Kathy Tedeschi form Campus of Caring with the goal of building a hospice home.

2005

2008

The newly named NVNA and Hospice covers towns from Milton to Duxbury and employs 150 full and part-time workers, including 50 nurses.

2008

2012

NVNA partners with Campus of Caring to purchase the New England Friends Home in Hingham for a hospice home.

2012

2013

The Pat Roche Hospice Home opens in Hingham. It is the South Shore’s first hospice residence. There are nine other hospice homes in the state.

 

2013

2014

Doherty is named to the Massachusetts Public Health Council. She has led the agency for 25 years as it expanded to 27 communities.

 

2014

2015

NVNA launches a new palliative care service for people with chronic illness.

2015

2016

Doherty retires; Renee McInnes becomes the new CEO and executive director. Plymouth office opens.

 

2016

2020

In its 100th year, the NVNA and Hospice meets the challenges of a new coronavirus pandemic.

2020

2025

NVNA and Hospice rebrands as Croí Health, updating the agency’s name to better reflect the scope of the service area and clinical platform.

2025

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