In 2025, Deborah M. Sale was named Board Chair of VNS Health, replacing outgoing Chair Dr. Andrew Schiff. A VNS Health Board member for the past five years, Sale draws on a broad healthcare background spanning executive leadership, public health initiatives, and statewide healthcare oversight.
What drew you to join the Board?
My major reason for joining VNS Health is that the organization represents the future of health care—which is to say, care in the home, managed in a way that really focuses on and benefits the patient or health plan member. Today, it’s more possible than ever for patients and members with complex health care needs to be cared for in the warm and loving environment of their own home, rather than in a hospital. So it’s an exciting time for organizations like ours.
What do you see as our biggest opportunities?
In New York we’re growing statewide, and that represents an enormous opportunity for us. We’re also utilizing AI in what I feel is a very good way. We’re fortunate to have a great leadership team, and we’re making the right decisions. The Board has tremendous confidence in VNS Health’s strategic direction, and we believe we are really at the cusp of more growth.
With their ongoing growth, what makes our Health Plans so appealing?
Our Health Plans do a very good job of managing their members’ care—among the vulnerable Medicaid and Medicare populations we serve, I think we do a better job than anyone. Our ability to connect with diverse populations is a particular strength. The many people from New York’s different cultural communities and individuals in our upstate expansion counties who have joined our plans are a good example of that. The relationships our Health Plans have developed within these communities are remarkable.
