Yael was born and raised on Kibbutz Matzuva, Israel. When she was 18 years old, Neil Reich came to the kibbutz as a volunteer and they fell in love. Following her military service in the IDF, Yael emigrated to the United States to be with Neil. They had two children, Hadas and Ben Reich
Yael pursued a BA in Art History at NYU before attending Columbia University School of Nursing to become a registered nurse. Yael spent most of her professional career with the Visiting Nurse Service of NY, helping homebound New Yorkers improve their health and quality of life. After receiving her Masters in Nursing from Hunter College, she became a Certified Diabetes Nurse Educator, and continued to work with the Visiting Nurse Service, guiding nurses and working with patients and their families in complex diabetes care. She was an active member and President of the local chapter of the American Association of Diabetes Educators. In 2019 Yael was awarded the Living Legend Award by VNS, for her lifetime commitment to nursing excellence.
Following Yael’s untimely death in 2020 the board of directors of NRMS voted to change our name and expand our mission to include an annual scholarship in Yael’s memory to a student at her alma mater The Hunter College School of Nursing. We are very proud to have initiated the first of these awards in the Fall semester of 2022.
