The Visiting Nurse Foundation, which offers flu shot clinics and support programs for stroke survivors in the Pittsburgh area, is changing its name to Health Hope Network.

The group also is adopting a new logo that shows the profile of a dove and bears the slogan, "A Commitment to Health, A Legacy of Care."

The change is effective at 9:30 a.m. today, when the group will hold a news conference about the change at the Soldiers & Sailors National Military Museum & Memorial in Oakland.

The new name is being announced now, before the start of the flu season, "so people will recognize us in the community," said Dotti Bechtol, Health Hope Network's executive director.

The agency's services will remain unchanged, along with its telephone number: 412-937-8350. A new Web site, www.healthhopenetwork.org, directs readers to the agency's old Web site. Ms. Bechtol said a new Web site is being developed.

Health Hope Network was the top choice among several suggested names in a poll that the agency conducted among about 250 board members, stroke survivors, contributors and others, she said.

The new name was chosen by the group's board to "better represent the services we provide to promote community health," Ms. Bechtol said. She noted that the Visiting Nurse Foundation has never provided nurses making home visits, which sometimes has led to confusion.

The foundation was created in 1989 as the fundraising arm of the Visiting Nurse Association of Allegheny County, which provided skilled nursing care and other services.

After the association ceased operation in 2000, the Visiting Nurse Foundation continued its flu shot program and took over the association's stroke support program, Ms. Bechtol said.

Health Hope Network expects to deliver 30,000 flu shots in the Pittsburgh area this flu season. It also provides weekly sessions offering support and activities to about 200 stroke survivors annually at 24 sites in Allegheny County, two sites in Beaver County and one site in Westmoreland County.

Health Hope Network plans to increase membership and sites for its stroke program in the next year in Allegheny County and to open at least 10 more stroke support groups outside the county, Ms. Bechtol said.