Walgreens donates scales to All Care VNA
Items to aid congestive heart failure patients
Special to The Daily Item
LYNN — When Walgreens promotes its tagline “At the corner of happy and 
healthy,” it really means it. The Walgreens at 290 Broadway is helping All Care patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) to monitor their weight with a gift of new scales for those who cannot afford them.
“For patients with congestive heart failure, the need to monitor and maintain their weight is essential for good health,” said Elizabeth Potter, development and fundraising manager at All Care. “Not all patients are in a position to purchase scales. Working with Walgreens, All Care VNA was able to procure donated scales so that patients without financial means would be able to monitor their weight and, subsequently, their health.”
“Walgreens wants to reach out and be active in the community, helping where we can to support health-related causes in the community,” said Bob Bushey, store manager of the local Walgreens. “We were able to make a donation of scales to help their cause because All Care VNA takes care of people on a daily basis, and I thought that anything we could do to help them was for a good cause.”
The scales are basic weight and BMI scales, he added, “and for someone who needs it, it could be life changing because it can give them the opportunity to take better care of themselves.”
Michele Tivnan RN BSN MMHS, clinical director of All Care VNA, is pleased with what Walgreens has done for All Care’s patients in need of scales. “One of the major roles of the home health care clinician is to be a teacher — with the goal of keeping them home and out of the hospital. When we have patients who are motivated to work with us to manage their disease process, yet they can’t really afford the tools to help them — even something as simple as a scale to help monitor their weight — donations like this really help.”
Founded in 1911, All Care VNA is a Medicare/Medicaid-certified agency offering services of nurses, home health aides, specialists in geriatrics, oncology, diabetes, physical, occupational, and speech therapies as well as palliative care. All Care Hospice provides the highest quality medical and emotional care for those with life-limiting illnesses, as well as respite care, spiritual support, and bereavement counseling for families. All Care also offers All Care Resources, a private pay division for flexible in-home services. All Care employs nearly 600 people, serving over 50 cities/towns in the Greater Boston North, Merrimack Valley and North Shore communities. For more information, call 800-287-2454 or visit www.allcare.org