Carol Raphael, who led Visiting Nurse Service of NY, joins Henry Schein's board

Carol Raphael, the former president and chief executive of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, has joined the board of directors of Henry Schein Inc., a global distributor of health care products based in Melville.

Raphael is a nationally recognized health care policy expert who ran the Visiting Nurse Service from 1989 to 2011. It is the largest nonprofit home health agency in the United States.

“As health care continues to evolve, Carol's broad experience will provide the Henry Schein board of directors with an important new perspective on this quickly changing market,” Henry Schein chief executive Stanley M. Bergman said in a statement announcing her appointment.

Before joining the Visiting Nurse Service, Raphael was the director of operations management at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan and an executive deputy commissioner for New York City’s Human Resources Administration. Currently, she is an  Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University.

Raphael joins Henry Schein’s board as sales at the 80-year-old company have been on a sharp upswing. Revenue climbed 33 percent, to $8.5 billion, between 2008 and 2011 as international demand has grown for dental implants, surgical instruments and other medical supplies.

Based on sales, Henry Schein is Long Island’s largest public company and one of the world's biggest distributors of health care products.

“It is a pleasure to join the board of a company that recognizes the important demographic and health care shifts occurring in society and is determined to play a leadership role as we navigate a course to continued success,” Raphael said.