Victoria Guarraci, RN.C, LNHA has been a pioneer in the development of what is now known as sub-acute care. Creating the subacute model of care was driven by the need to shorten hospital lengths of stay and avoid hospitalizing nursing home residents.
Having received the Nurse of the Year award in 1992 from the HCANJ followed by receiving the Director of Nursing of the Year awarded by Contemporary Long Term Care Magazine, she received a Senate Resolution from Senator Don DiFrancesco acknowledging her many accomplishments and for improving the lives of LTC residents. Vickie was ready to move senior care forward.
While most managers in nursing homes shied away from admitting sicker, younger patients, Vickie saw an opportunity. As a person with vision, she understood that the sub-acute model of care was the right response to the challenges of containing costs and reducing the length of stay in hospitals while maintaining quality of care and patient/family satisfaction.
Vickie guided multiple nursing homes in New Jersey through the transition from traditional long-term care to sub-acute care. She helped them overcome obstacles by improving staff competency, addressing the needs of adults of all ages, and establishing hospital level clinical care programs.
By 1998, Vickie’s reputation for successfully managing nursing homes through the transition to sub-acute care was well established. A group of nursing homes retained Vickie to serve as the Executive Director of a new entity, CARE Associates Network, LLC. With an initial budget of $50,000.00, Vickie helped member facilities transition to sub-acute care and establish successful relationships with insurance companies, hospitals, and physician groups. Over the years, CARE’s network has expanded to include Skilled Nursing/Sub-acute Facilities, Assisted Living Facilities, and Medical Day Care providers within the state of NJ.
For 25 years, as the CEO of CARE, Vickie continued to direct the organization toward its primary objective of developing and enhancing the Network’s relationships with managed care organizations. At the end of 2023, Vickie announced her retirement from CARE and officially passed the torch to MaryAnne Scuderi in February 2024. MaryAnne has worked for the past 11 years as CARE’s Executive Vice President. Vickie will continue to work with CARE in a consulting capacity for the next few months to help facilitate new value-added programs to CARE’s list of services.
